Dr . Ronald Levine EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION AWARD
2016 DOCTORS ’ BALL PHYSICIAN HONOREES
28 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
Dr . Ronald Levine says he ’ s spent most of his professional life teaching . Indeed he has , guiding medical students , residents , fellows and colleagues as an obstetrician-gynecologist who helped pioneer the use of what ’ s now known as minimally invasive surgery . But the now retired Levine has also always been an avid student himself , learning and applying knowledge that has transformed medical practice worldwide , particularly for women .
With an undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Denver , the New York native was drafted into the infantry at the height of the Korean War , and shortly after was transferred to a medical research lab at Fort Knox . The work there led to an invitation from the University of Louisville to earn a PhD in physiology , but he opted instead to apply to the School of Medicine , with an eye toward eventual research in clinical care .
After a residency in obstetrics and gynecology , Dr . Levine began teaching at U of L and then within his own private practice , arranging to have medical students rotate through . “ I wrote an editorial once called ‘ The Pebble Effect ,’” Levine says . “ You throw some pebbles in the water , and you make some circles , and the circles go way out beyond your vision . That ’ s the effect of teaching , especially in medicine .” It was on the Planned Parenthood national medical committee that Levine recognized the ripple effects of decisions on women ’ s health care around the world .
In 1970 , colleague Dr . Marvin Yussman returned to Louisville from a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology at Harvard , and showed Dr . Levine a new technique that made it possible for a surgeon to directly view a woman ’ s reproductive organs without the need for a major incision . Using an early laparoscope , Levine began to wonder how the new tool might be further developed and used for more complex surgical tasks .
About a decade later at a meeting of the Pan American Fertility Society , a fascinated Levine watched as Dr . Kurt Semm of Germany demonstrated that laparoscopy could be used for treatment as well as for diagnosis , and shortly after , went to Germany himself to study with Semm . Dr . Levine brought the new technique back to Louisville in 1983 , and was soon able to demonstrate , as he ’ d recognized , that it would forever change not only gynecology , but all sorts of surgery . In particular , he believed that laparoscopic surgery would have enormous benefits for women , enabling them to have many pelvic disorders treated with an overnight rather than weeklong hospital stay , and to return to work in two weeks instead of six .
Newspaper clippings of the time hail him as a pioneer in what was then known as pelviscopic surgery , and describe the first ever American seminars organized by Dr . Levine at Jewish and U of L for physicians from across the country who wanted to learn techniques . Levine went on to co-write five books on laparoscopic surgery , and started an annual training course at U of L ( that has instructed more than 500 surgeons from around the world ) and also a fellowship in minimally invasive surgery , which has now trained 15 surgeons .
Ultimately , says former patient and longtime friend Jessica Loving , Dr . Levine has been motivated by a determination to enable women to take charge of their health and their lives – and to teach others how to do the same .