A legend in the annals of Yale medicine returns, in person and on canvas

When new interns in the Department of Internal Medicine arrived in July 1964, little did they know that they would be the last group to be trained at Yale by Paul B. Beeson, M.D., then chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. A year and three months into their training, Beeson left for Oxford University. In May, nine of that last cadre of house staff gathered with Beeson, his family and members of the Department of Internal Medicine in the Historical Library for the unveiling of a portrait of the legendary physician. Beeson, who served as department chair from 1952 to 1965, specialized in infectious disease and discovered a class of proteins known as cytokines. In 1996 the medical service at Yale was named “The Beeson Medical Service” in his honor.

“No contemporary figure has had more influence on the way Western-trained doctors practice medicine than Paul Beeson,” said John N. Forrest Jr., M.D., HS ’67, who heads the Office of Student Research. “Paul Beeson was revered in medicine because he promoted those around him rather than himself, valued patients and the vocation of medicine rather than reputation and never forgot that treating sick people and training young physicians was a precious gift and responsibility.”

“In his presence we all felt greatness,” said Lewis Landsberg, M.D. ’64, HS ’70, now dean of the medical school at Northwestern University. “His humbleness stood as a sharp rebuke to the hubris of lesser men.”

The portrait was accepted for the Department of Medicine by David Coleman, M.D., the interim chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. “The Beeson tradition and values continue to play a major role in the training of students and house staff,” Coleman said. “This portrait will be a constant reminder of that influence.” The portrait, painted by Vermont artist Richard Whitney, will hang in Fitkin Amphitheater.