Long Overdue

Congratulations to Dr. Jerry Lazarus and his election as vice speaker of the AMA’s House of Delegates as reported in the July 18 issue. As someone very active in organized medicine particularly at the state level, I welcome the increased visibility and influence of psychiatry in the AMA. Dr. Lazarus, Dr. John McIntyre, and others are important ambassadors of our specialty in the AMA, and we owe them much gratitude for their work.

Interestingly, of the 158 presidents of the AMA, only one has been a psychiatrist. On May 16, 1939, Dr. Rock Sleyster, then medical director of the Milwaukee Sanitorium in Wisconsin, was installed as the 93rd president of the AMA in St. Louis. Dr. Sleyster’s AMA journey began with his election as a delegate in 1913, followed by being elected vice speaker of the House of Delegates in 1922 (a good omen for Dr. Lazarus in terms of what followed). Dr. Sleyster was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1926 and served as chair of the board from 1935 to 1937, at which time he became president-elect, and then president. In his memory, through a bequest from the estate of Clara Sarah Sleyster, the AMA Education and Research Foundation established the Rock Sleyster Memorial Fund to honor her husband as AMA president, and it annually awards approximately 20 such scholarships to assist needy and deserving medical students who aspire to specialize in psychiatry.

Two articles (fall 1995 and winter 1996) in the Wisconsin Psychiatrist—“Out of the Soil of Wisconsin”—give a detailed account of the presidency of Dr. Sleyster and his approaches to the problems of that time, many of which are hauntingly familiar still. I would be glad to share those stories, giving insight into Dr. Sleyster and his presidential journey, to anyone interested.

In closing those articles, I indicated that while Dr. Sleyster’s presidency was important, it was some time distant, and it was time for another psychiatrist to lead the AMA. Perhaps this vice speaker’s position will provide the same springboard to higher office that it provided Dr. Sleyster. Let’s hope so.