4 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
DR STUART URBACH : HE UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING , ALWAYS
One of my favorite stories to tell a patient when she excuses herself with , “ I ’ m just getting old ” is to tell them about my favorite doctor , Dr . Stuart Urbach : may his memory be a blessing .
My favorite doctor lived nearly to 96 and the city mourns : his family , and I , and the legions of his student docs , and the even larger legions of his patients , who loved him . You ’ re only as old as you feel , and in his case , that was pretty young , till just the last few weeks .
My patients are astonished to hear his story . When Dr . Urbach turned 95 , he was working at the VA , the jail , a local clinic and at the medical school . I remember my co-workers had a birthday celebration for me for my 31st birthday . He popped in , asked how old I was and promptly remarked , “ Well , you ’ re just a baby , you ’ ve got a long way to go .”
One of my favorite medical student events was a session on religion with Dr . Urbach . This was back in 2017 . I honestly don ’ t remember what I said , I remember what Dr . Urbach said . He shared his story of growing up Jewish , and becoming a more secular individual as an adult . His stories about medical school included his classes with Dr . Kornhauser ( For those of you who attended UofL , yes that Kornhauser , the library man ). He described Louisville General Hospital and the Red Cross hospital , where patients were segregated based on race . We could have sat and listened for days , hearing him talk about the past and what he remembered of training . I posted on Facebook about the event . Afterwards , my family ’ s takeaway ever since has been , “ How is that older doctor doing ?”
He was one of the humblest men you could ever meet . He joined the Department of Medicine faculty in 1955 . Many of you may have met him while you were a medical student , a resident or an attending . Regardless of who you were , Dr . Urbach was there to listen , and lend a helping hand if he could . He was respectful of the person in front of him , and tolerant of the situation described . Dr . Urbach was one of a kind .
What I most appreciated is that he never would call himself old : he was simply someone who enjoyed life , and enjoyed what he did
in medicine . I remember he took a trip out west to see his sons and then came back and told us all about it . He listened to medical books on the way there to keep himself entertained . I remember when his beloved wife was ill , he was her caregiver . He took her to appointments , to specialists around the country . During her illnesses , he would share what she was experiencing , to see if any of us had any ideas . He figured out her final diagnosis , but the crucial diagnostic test came back only after she was gone . It was crushing ; he endured .
Dr . Urbach set the bar for medicine . He exemplified how important it was to find your passion in medicine and to enjoy what you do . That ’ s why he worked the jobs he did . He loved so many things in life , from tennis , to teaching , to doctoring , to French horn , to traveling to Alaska for the Iditarod — and that ’ s only the short list . What a rich life he led . May we all be so lucky to enjoy this life the way he did .
Dr . Urbach would have turned 96 this year on Earth Day , an event he was so proud to share his special day with . Happy Celestial birthday , my friend . Thank you for showing us how to live and how to practice medicine . If you would like to share your memories or pictures , join me in sharing your memories here : http :// www . celebrating-stuart-urbach . com /
May his memory be a blessing .
Dr . Monalisa Tailor is the Executive Medical Director , Primary Care for Norton Medical Group and is a practicing internal medicine physician at Norton Community Medical Associates : Barret .