Dean Nancy Tarbell called the meeting to order and announced that Dean Flier had asked her to chair the meeting due to an unavoidable absence.

Tarbell announced the reading of a Memorial Minute had been added to the agenda at the recommendation of the Docket Committee. She explained that a Memorial Minute is a testament to a deceased HMS faculty member, prepared by members of the Memorial Minute Committee and delivered by one of its members. She said that the honoree was Robert Scully, former professor of pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and his tribute was read by Robert Young who holds the Robert E. Scully Professor of Pathology chair at MGH.

Dr. Young read the following Memorial Minute.

Robert E. Scully, MD, Emeritus Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School, died on October 30, 2012 at the age of 91 years. He practiced almost his entire career in Boston, mostly at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), but his influence was felt worldwide primarily because of his contributions to gynecologic and testicular pathology.

Robert Edward Scully was born on August 31, 1921. His father died three months after Dr. Scully was born, so he and his only sibling, an older brother, were raised by their mother, a schoolteacher. Dr. Scully graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester in 1941 and then attended Harvard Medical School, from which he graduated in 1944. Pathology had always appealed to him and he applied for a pathology residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and was accepted. He also spent time during his training at the Children’s Hospital, and when his residency was over, spent one year at Pondville State Cancer Hospital in Walpole, followed by one year teaching at Harvard Medical School. During the latter year he was supervised by Dr. Tracy B. Mallory, the then Chief of Pathology at the MGH, who recruited him to join the MGH faculty. He took up that position in 1950, but early in his tenure spent two years abroad serving in the United States Army during the Korean War. He returned to the MGH in 1954.

Dr. Scully was a classically trained general anatomic pathologist with considerable experience in autopsy pathology and all areas of surgical pathology. Indeed until late in his career, he would be shown examples of specimens from diverse areas of the body for his opinion. His eye was legendary not only because of the speed with which he would make difficult diagnoses but because of his great attention to detail and preparedness to study a difficult case relentlessly to arrive at the correct diagnosis. He always warned of the hazards of making diagnoses, particularly of unusual cases, without a sound awareness of the clinical background and gross characteristics of the specimen. Although he felt that most of the time careful gross inspection and diligent microscopic evaluation of routinely stained slides would suffice for diagnosis, he was quick to embrace new modalities, such as immunohistochemistry, which came along late in his career.

Dr. Scully published over 400 papers, which included descriptions of many new entities. His first, in 1953, was on a distinctive lesion of the abnormal gonad, the gonadoblastoma, and over the years he first described many ovarian tumors such as a distinctive small cell carcinoma often associated with hypercalcemia, and others, all now accepted entities in the current classification of ovarian neoplasms. He wrote three books. The first was on endocrine pathology of the ovary and was dedicated to Dr. Joseph Meigs, chief of gynecology at the MGH in Dr. Scully’s early years. He also wrote the so-called fascicles on the ovary in a well-known series of tumor atlases. His final book was on testicular tumors. His interest in the latter topic began when as a resident he saw an unusual case, which prompted him to review all testicular tumors encountered at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. His mastery of the complex world of the pathology of abnormal gonads was remarkable and his lectures on that topic will likely never be surpassed. All his talks were meticulously prepared and he went to great pains to make certain that every slide shown had a point to make.

Dr. Scully served for 27 years as editor of the Case Records of the MGH published in the New England Journal of Medicine. During that time his obligation was to have one case record published every week, so he essentially was responsible for editing a case report 52 weeks of the year. His editorial skills were legendary. It was possible to be discouraged by the degree to which he edited manuscripts submitted to him with the optimistic assumption that he would consider them ready for publication. Initial despair always turned to satisfaction when one realized one was not only learning how to write a paper properly but also that the finished product would be of a quality that would be to the credit of the junior author.

Dr. Scully headed the distinguished group of pathologists who worked on the first World Health Organization classification of ovarian tumors, an undertaking that began in the early 1960s. Because the classification of ovarian tumors that existed at the time was disorganized, this was an important exercise and the classification much enhanced by those who worked under his guidance. He continued to be active in World Health Organization classifications as the senior writer of the classification of all female genital tract neoplasms, ultimately published in the late 1990s.

An example of Dr. Scully’s expertise in noting unusual clinical and pathologic circumstances was his role in helping establish the relationship between clear cell carcinoma of the vagina and cervix and the use of diethylstilbestrol during pregnancy. In the mid to late 1960s, he noted that at the MGH there was a surprising cluster of examples of these rare tumors in patients in the late teenage years, prompting clinicians to eventually make the connection with DES exposure.

Dr. Scully’s collection of unusual cases is remarkable as from early in his career he received many cases for a second opinion. They eventually numbered over 27,000. He would start looking at them early in the morning and continued throughout the day, allowing for multiple interruptions for people to show him hospital cases. Saturdays and Sundays were no different other than a slightly earlier departure in the afternoon. However Dr. Scully was not “all work and no play.” He was a man of wide interests in politics and the arts and closely followed sports, particularly his beloved Boston Red Sox.

Dr. Scully received essentially all awards that a distinguished diagnostic pathologist could receive including the Fred W. Stewart Award of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Maude Abbott Lectureship of the US-Canadian Division of the International Academy of Pathology, and Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists. A named Professorship of Pathology in his honor was established at Harvard Medical School in the mid-1990s. His contributions to his areas of interest are immense and constitute an enduring legacy.

Dr. Scully remained well until his mid-eighties when a variety of health issues made it impractical for him to come to work and curtailed his travels. He remained in close contact with many trainees and former colleagues in the hospital, who enjoyed speaking with him on the phone frequently, and visiting him in his condominium overlooking Boston Common. Dr. Scully suffered a stroke in late October 2012 and died in the hospital he had served so ably for over half a century.

Dr. Scully did not marry but was very close to his two nephews and two nieces and their children, who provided him a warm family environment. His many trainees over the years were exceedingly fond of this wonderful, gentle man whose personal qualities matched his remarkable medical talents. Those who had the good fortune to work closely with him know that they worked with one of the giants in the field and a mentor second to none.

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert H. Young, Chairperson

David N. Louis Robert B. Colvin Philip B. Clement Nancy Lee Harris Esther Oliva

Isaac Schiff

A general discussion followed of Dr. Scully’s many contributions.

Next, Tarbell welcomed two students from the Student Council to give their annual report, Keenan Michael Mathan and Christopher Calahan, both of whom are completing the New Pathway Year 1.

Mathan reported that the purpose of the Student Council is to foster community among students, serve as an umbrella for student organizations and advocate on behalf of students. Both Mathan and Calahan discussed student life changes as a result of the New Pathways Curriculum explaining that the changes present some challenges for student activities, including earlier transitions in leadership of the Student Council and other groups and more fourth year involvement in clinical activities. They also noted that the 2015 Second Year Show will be the last; going forward the student show will take place during the fourth year, promoting fourth-year class cohesiveness.

Next, Mathan and Calahan discussed a request for IT support for a student calendar. Currently, student events are sent out via listserves, which are designated by class. To solve this problem, the Student Council requested that IT help create a student calendar where all organizations appear on one calendar and information is disseminated to all classes. Additionally, the Student Council asked for IT to create a mechanism for real time feedback as part of the revised curriculum.

A brief discussion followed before Tarbell thanked Mathan and Calahan, who then left the meeting.

Tarbell introduced Dean Nancy Oriol to present the Match Day results.

Oriol reported that approximately 50 percent of the graduating students will participate in HMS affiliated residency programs. Approximately 44 percent of the students matched with programs in internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, and family medicine. Oriol also presented data illustrating that over the last 10 years no particular trends have emerged related to the selection of sub-specialties. She also reported that 5 percent of the graduating students chose not to go immediately into residency training. Oriol explained that most of a student’s fourth year is spent interviewing and traveling, with the average number of interviews being 8-20.

A general discussion followed.

Tarbell thanked Oriol and introduced Dean Maureen Connelly to give an update on faculty appointments.

Connelly introduced Yvette Jusseaume, the new director of academic appointments and data management. Connelly presented data to profile the Faculty of Medicine—totaling 12,476—as of March 2015. Three hundred and four (304) faculty members held primary appointments in a basic or social science department located on the Quadrangle and/or at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Sixty nine (69) faculty members held primary appointments in a basic or social science department and were located at affiliated institutions. Eleven thousand seven hundred and sixty nine (11,769) held primary appointments in a clinical department and 334 held appointments at HSDM. Fifty percent (50%) of all faculty appointments were at the instructor/lecturer level. Dean Connelly noted that there is continued growth in the number of female professors while the number of underrepresented minority faculty has seen slower growth.

Next, Connelly discussed the total number of promotions and appointments (553) completed in the last academic year and the distribution of promotions and appointments by race/ethnicity and gender. She also stated that the average time it takes to process promotions has gone from 2-3 years to approximately 10.2 months.

Connelly reviewed the new part-time appointment policy and several factors that led to its reconsideration:

  • Expansion of clinical operations/relations
  • LCME requirements
  • Inadequate criteria
  • Evolving rationale for part-time appointments

Connelly said that the new policy will more accurately describe what faculty do, evaluate individuals in the same titles by the same standards, and ensure that those who hold titles contribute to the teaching mission at HMS. She noted that the minimum expectation for teaching within the HMS community is 50 hours per year.

Connelly also reported that full-time faculty members are expected to work at least close to full-time for a primary HMS/HSDM affiliate. Part-time faculty with ladder titles were expected to have at least a nominal (i.e., one day per week) relationship with a primary HMS/HSDM affiliate, and lecturer and senior lecturer titles would be appropriate for others who meet the teaching expectations.

Connelly outlined the new instructor policy, which went into effect on July 1, 2014. This year, documentation of teaching, assignment of a mentor, and participation in an annual career conference are required for instructor reappointments.

Connelly then took some question, before Tarbell adjourned the meeting.