I found out yesterday that someone special to our family died while we were on vacation. Dr. Rickman is the physician who, in addition to being an infectious disease expert at UCSD, was the person who helped our family get through its most difficult time. During the weeks of Mom's illness, Dr. Rickman was constantly being interviewed on the news constantly regarding the anthrax scare as San Diego's expert on bioterrorism. We knew Mom would really have liked him because he always had a number of students in tow when he visited her (even during "non-rounds" time) and it was clear that he was passionate about his role as an educator. In spite of his busy schedule, he spent hours with our family as we made our tough decisions. He stayed with Dad and Marilyn for 2 hours during Mom's last MRI and personally interpreted it--which resulted in our decision to stop Mom's treatment and transfer her to hospice. After we had made the decision--he asked my girls if they wanted ride with him in the ambulance! He had us smiling, even then.
A mom of one of Kara's preschool buddies works as a nurse on the 5th floor IMU of UCSD Medical Center, which was Mom's floor while she was hospitalized there. She knew Dr. Rickman and told me this morning that she had seen him about a month ago and told him that one of the mom's in her daughter's preschool (me) knew him. She only remembered my name but she said Dr. Rickman immediately remembered and said "Oh, yes, Ardeth and Bob. Please tell all of the family hello from me." That's the kind of man he was.
article in UCSD Health Sciences News:
June 26, 2003
IN MEMORIAM: LELAND RICKMAN
Leland Rickman, M.D.
Leland Rickman, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the UCSD School of Medicine, died suddenly on June 24 while traveling and teaching medicine in Lesotho, Africa. Actual cause of death, apparently due to natural causes, is not known. He was 47.
Rickman contributed to the UCSD Medical School and the UCSD Medical Center in multiple areas. He was an active clinician and teacher in both Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine. In 1993 he was appointed Hospital Epidemiologist and Medical Director of the Epidemiology Unit and served as a key member of the Antibiotic Utilization Team. For the past three years, he served as Acting Associate Director of the Microbiology Laboratory and led clinical microbiology rounds. He played an active part in preparedness and training for bioterrorism in San Diego County. He was a member of the Group to Eradicate Resistant Micro-organisms (GERM) Commission of the San Diego County Medical Society
"Dr. Rickman was a consummate teacher and an outstanding role model," said Edward W. Holmes, Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences at UCSD. "He will be remembered for his tireless energy and commitment to sharing knowledge and teaching new skills in clinical medicine."
Colleagues remember Rickman as a superb teacher of clinical medicine who loved nothing more than to introduce students to common and obscure syndromes.
Rickman was born in 1956 in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1976. He completed his Medical Degree at the University of Michigan in 1980, an Internal Medicine Internship and Residency at the University of California San Diego in 1980-83, and an Infectious Diseases Fellowship at Naval Hospital San Diego in 1983-85. After holding several positions with the Navy, he joined the UCSD Faculty in 1990. Rickman was Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases and active in several professional associations.
"His teaching awards from the housestaff, chief residents and students were too numerous to count, prompting me to consider creating a new award, 'teacher of excellence,' to be awarded to Lee in perpetuity, allowing others to receive the awards he so richly deserved year after year," said Kenneth Kaushansky, M.D., Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSD. "Lee was away from San Diego upon his untimely death, on a trip to bring his clinical experience to African physicians and patients. In this regard, his loss was not only to those of us at UCSD but to the world."
In fact, Dr. Rickman earned more teaching awards than any other faculty member in the Department of Medicine. His awards included the UCSD Department of Medicine's Graduating Housestaff Teaching Award (each year from 1993 through 2000) and the Department of Medicine's Chief Medical Residents Teaching Award (from 1992 through 1996 and again in 2002). Each year, he sponsored Independent Study Projects by multiple medical students, which frequently generated publications.
"He was a wonderful colleague who was the first to volunteer to supervise and teach the residents and students during the busiest times of the year or help other professors on short notice," said J. Allen McCutchan, Professor of Medicine at UCSD. "Lee's colleagues, students, friends and family will remember him for his ready smile, quick wit, and genuineness. He was a wonderful physician, mentor, friend, colleague, and family member. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him."
read the rest at http://health.ucsd.edu/news/2003/06_26_Rickman.html
link to San Diego Channel 10 story:
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/2296732/detail.html
an article also appeared in the L.A. Times:
L. Rickman, 47; Expert on Infections, Bioterrorism:[HOME EDITION]
Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif.: Jul 2, 2003. pg. B.13
Full Text (379 words)
