Class of 1958 Bios

PAUL BORNSTEIN, M.D. Class of 1958

I started my post-medical school career as a surgical intern at Yale. My last memory of NYU, and one that took quite a while to dispel, was that of our Associate Dean, Dr Hubbard, who called me into his office, as he did all of us, to inform me of my fate as an intern. After a wait of almost two hours, Dr Hubbard greeted me by saying “Bornstein, why don’t you shave – you look like a bum.” A response flashed through my mind “ Dr Hubbard, I was clean-shaven when I arrived for my appointment”, but I didn’t want to make matters worse. I had incurred Dr Hubbard’s wrath when I had decided to go to the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm at the end of our 3rd year to work on a cardiovascular surgery project. When I met with Dr. Hubbard to obtain his approval, he asked ‘why not work on a project at Bellevue? I suppose you’re more interested in Swedish blondes than in research’. Thereupon, I went to our Dean, who approved my plan enthusiastically. But Dr. Hubbard had the last word. He opened his notebook and declared “Bornstein, you have a surgical internship at Yale – that’s a lot better than you deserve”.

Read more about Dr. Bornstein