Tuesday, May 24, 2011
C. Thorpe Ray: master clinician and teacher
I'm adding some new posts about great mentors to honor and remember some of those master clinicians and teachers from the past who believed the stethoscope was more than a device to spread germs and enhance coding. This web site is devoted to the legacy of C. Thorpe Ray, who headed departments at Tulane, Oschner and the University of Missouri. I never knew Dr. Ray but was familiar with some of the C. Thorpe Ray stories circulating around among New Orleans and Mizzou alumni.
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In the late 60's I started work as an EKG tech at Ochsner Clinic/Foundation Hospital. Dr C. Thorpe Ray chose me to become the clinic's first cardiac sonographer,
a career move that has brought me untold fullfillment through both clinical and research opportunities all over the US, Canada and even western Europe. Now that I am nearing retirement I'd like to share a story. Dr. Ray was a master at palpating heart sounds and the medical students were absolutely flabbergasted at his accuracy when doing so. I was standing in the hallway one day, waiting for him to finish rounds so I could show him the results of
an echo. As he stopped and looked at my images,a medical student came running up and asked,"Dr. Ray, Dr. Ray, just how soft a heart sound can you palpate?" Dr. Ray reached into my lab coat pocket, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, took a big drag and flicked the ash into the palm of his hand and said with a twinkle in his eye "about that soft", and walked away. That was one of several times I had the pleasure of seeing and listening to a remarkable man make a point with an absolutely delicious sense of humor!
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