THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601280141
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 174 lines
It is a bittersweet time in Dr. John Franklin's life.
The 80-year-old professor of internal medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School, who created and nurtured the school's geriatric program during the past decade, has finally seen his dream become a reality.
A $2 million endowment in December created The Glennan Center on Aging, which will focus on education, research and medical care.
And the school is close to hiring one of the country's pre-eminent geriatricians to run it.
When that happens Franklin will have to make good on a longtime promise to retire.
Some who know him, however, doubt he can stay retired.
``He's an extremely dedicated person, a sort of bulldog,'' says his longtime friend, retired surgeon Robert Payne Jr. ``He works constantly.''
Franklin tried retirement once before - when he was 69 and a founding partner of the Norfolk Diagnostic Center, one of the largest physician groups in the region. The retirement lasted two weeks, Payne remembers.
Then, Franklin went to the chairman of the internal medicine department at EVMS and asked if he could start a geriatrics curriculum. He was appalled at the number of students who graduated never having seen the inside of a nursing home, visited a patient at home or learned about the community's vast array of services for the elderly.
Four years later, at age 73, he completed a fellowship and became board-certified in geriatrics, astonishing his colleagues, Payne says.
``The general reaction was that he couldn't possibly do it, that he was too old, that no one did it at that age and that he wouldn't be able to pass the exam.''
That is just the kind of ``ageism'' Franklin decries, in his courtly, quiet manner.
After nearly 40 years practicing internal medicine and cardiology in Norfolk, watching his patients grow old along with him, Franklin chose geriatrics as a second career because of the prejudice he saw younger physicians direct toward their elderly patients.
``I think there is a concept of `Why waste your time with the older patient when you can spend time with the younger patients,' '' he says.
``But older patients became my friends, and I was concerned about their welfare.''
His timing was fortunate. With the 85-and-older the fastest-growing segment of the country's population, geriatricians are in increasing demand, and EVMS is now in a position to train them.
But training specialists is less important, Franklin said, than showing all future doctors - be they family practitioners, radiologists, surgeons - that you treat a 70-year-old differently than a 30-year-old.
To teach EVMS students that lesson, he instituted a mandatory two-week internship on aging. Students visit nursing homes, experience first-hand the difficulties of aging through simulation exercises and are introduced to the intricacies of the aging process.
Even as he enjoyed success through the internship program, however, Franklin never lost sight of his overriding goal of a multidisciplinary center on aging.
In 1989 he attracted a $1 million contribution for the center from longtime benefactor Lillian Norfleet, which established the John Franklin Fund in geriatric medicine.
The December endowment, from Norfolk resident Virginia Glennan Ferguson, came about much the same way. Although Mrs. Ferguson wasn't Franklin's patient, the two met through mutual friends. And she knew of Franklin's reputation through many of her friends, whom he did treat.
``They simply adore him,'' she says. ``They light up when they talk about him.''
Over the years, Franklin kept talking to Mrs. Ferguson about the needs of the elderly and, since she was in her 70s herself, she became intrigued.
``I've always had a feeling that most family physicians, being youngish men, simply did not understand the differences between young patients and old patients. I had been looking a long time and explored many avenues of ways to honor my father and grandfather, and this thing just sort of evolved,'' Mrs. Ferguson said.
So now, with the Glennan Center in the works and a geriatrician to lead it, Franklin plans to make good on his longstanding threat to retire when he found someone who could keep the geriatrics program running.
He'll keep his promise, he says, tugging his ear. Although, he hedges, ``I'm not going to give it up entirely.''
It is a bittersweet time in Dr. John Franklin's life.
The 80-year-old professor of internal medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School, who created and nurtured the school's geriatric program during the past decade, has finally seen his dream become a reality.
A $2 million endowment in December created The Glennan Center on Aging, which will focus on education, research and medical care.
And the school is close to hiring one of the country's pre-eminent geriatricians to run it.
When that happens Franklin will have to make good on a longtime promise to retire.
Some who know him, however, doubt he can stay
retired.
``He's an extremely dedicated person, a sort of bulldog,'' says his longtime friend, retired surgeon Robert Payne Jr. ``He works constantly.''
Franklin tried retirement once before - when he was 69 and a founding partner of the Norfolk Diagnostic Center, one of the largest physician groups in the region. The retirement lasted two weeks, Payne remembers.
Then, Franklin went to the chairman of the internal medicine department at EVMS and asked if he could start a geriatrics curriculum. He was appalled at the number of students who graduated never having seen the inside of a nursing home, visited a patient at home or learned about the community's vast array of services for the elderly.
Four years later, at age 73, he completed a fellowship and became board-certified in geriatrics, astonishing his colleagues, Payne says.
``The general reaction was that he couldn't possibly do it, that he was too old, that no one did it at that age and that he wouldn't be able to pass the exam.''
That is just the kind of ``ageism'' Franklin decries, in his courtly, quiet manner.
After nearly 40 years practicing internal medicine and cardiology in Norfolk, watching his patients grow old along with him, Franklin chose geriatrics as a second career because of the prejudice he saw younger physicians direct toward their elderly patients.
``I think there is a concept of `Why waste your time with the older patient when you can spend time with the younger patients,' '' he says.
``But older patients became my friends, and I was concerned about their welfare.''
His timing was fortunate. With the 85-and-older the fastest-growing segment of the country's population, geriatricians are in increasing demand, and EVMS is now in a position to train them.
But training specialists is less important, Franklin said, than showing all future doctors - be they family practitioners, radiologists, surgeons - that you treat a 70-year-old differently than a 30-year-old.
To teach EVMS students that lesson, he instituted a mandatory two-week internship on aging. Students visit nursing homes, experience first-hand the difficulties of aging through simulation exercises and are introduced to the intricacies of the aging process.
Even as he enjoyed success through the internship program, however, Franklin never lost sight of his overriding goal of a multidisciplinary center on aging.
In 1989 he attracted a $1 million contribution for the center from longtime benefactor Lillian Norfleet, which established the John Franklin Fund in geriatric medicine.
The December endowment, from Norfolk resident Virginia Glennan Ferguson, came about much the same way. Although Mrs. Ferguson wasn't Franklin's patient, the two met through mutual friends. And she knew of Franklin's reputation through many of her friends, whom he did treat.
``They simply adore him,'' she says. ``They light up when they talk about him.''
Over the years, Franklin kept talking to Mrs. Ferguson about the needs of the elderly and, since she was in her 70s herself, she became intrigued.
``I've always had a feeling that most family physicians, being youngish men, simply did not understand the differences between young patients and old patients. I had been looking a long time and explored many avenues of ways to honor my father and grandfather, and this thing just sort of evolved,'' Mrs. Ferguson said.
So now, with the Glennan Center in the works and a geriatrician to lead it, Franklin plans to make good on his longstanding threat to retire when he found someone who could keep the geriatrics program running.
He'll keep his promise, he says, tugging his ear. Although, he hedges, ``I'm not going to give it up entirely.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/The Virginian-Pilot
Dr. John Franklin, who created the school's geriatrics program, may
not retire - he's too dedicated.
by CNB