Class Notes

Charles L. Seifert (M.D. 1959) was inducted into the Battle Creek Health System Physicians’ Hall of Fame in April. He was honored for his 26 years of service as a urologist in the Battle Creek, Michigan, area. Since retiring, Seifert has remained active on the governing boards of the Battle Creek Health System and has participated in countless civic activities, including service as vice mayor and mayor of Battle Creek.

Richard D. Dryer (M.D. 1971) has been promoted to chief medical officer for primary care at the Henry Ford Medical Group. An internist, Dryer previously served as medical director of the southern region for Henry Ford. He will lead the group in primary care innovation, quality and standardization.

Peter Y. Chen, M.D. (Residency 1986), of Royal Oak, Michigan, has been inducted as a fellow in the American College of Radiology. Chen is a radiation oncologist and medical director of the Gamma Knife Center at William Beaumont Hospital, and clinical professor at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. Chen is also a member of the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Michigan Radiological Society.

Michael L. Ginsberg (M.D. 2005) is a general outpatient pediatrician at NorthBay Healthcare near San Francisco, California, and an adjunct faculty member at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Previously, Ginsberg completed a pediatrics residency at Jacobi Medical Center and a fellowship in adolescent medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Hilary A. Roeder (M.D. 2007) began a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at the University of California, San Diego, in July. She formerly served as chief resident in obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina. —MF

Two Alumni Honored by MCAS

Robert P. Kelch (M.D. 1967, Residency 1970) and James E. Montie (M.D. 1971) were honored with Distinguished Alumni Awards from the U-M Medical Center Alumni Society on April 9.

Kelch, U-M executive vice president emeritus for medical affairs and professor emeritus of pediatrics and communicable diseases, received the Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes professional achievements and/or humanitarian service to the welfare of mankind.

Montie, the Valassis Professor of Urologic Oncology, a member of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center and co-principal investigator responsible for the translational science of the Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE), received the MCAS Distinguished Achievement Award. The award is given to alumni or faculty members who typify the Michigan tradition of excellence and bring credit to the University through personal accomplishment and professional achievement. —KB

Learn more about the MCAS awards

Cruising the World with Robert Bridge

When Robert Bridge (M.D. 1969, Residency 1973) was growing up in Rochester, New York, his father would take him to a chemical company to buy powdered zinc, sulfur and other substances that he’d experiment with in the family basement. “I’d mix them together to see what happened,” says Bridge. “I was really interested in the space race and made rockets out of cardboard and a fuse. It’s amazing I didn’t blow the house up.”

Bridge’s early love of science never got him to the moon, but it did lead to a life in medicine that has sent him around the world.

As a U-M undergrad, Bridge fell in love with organic chemistry. During summers, he returned to Rochester and worked at a local amusement park. He also received tuition support from an unusual source. “My father’s mother died when he was very young, and he lived for about five years at the Jewish Children’s Home, an orphanage in Rochester,” says Bridge. “Many of the former residents did quite well, and they established a scholarship for children of students who had lived there. I remember getting that check, and it sure helped.”

Bridge signed up for the MCATs on a whim during his junior year and, with little preparation, achieved a high score. He was admitted to the Medical School, skipped his senior undergraduate year and began his medical education in the fall of 1964.

In his third year, however, he became profoundly ill with Crohn’s disease and spent two months in University Hospital. “I learned what it is to be a patient and to be scared,” he says. Following surgery and a long recuperation, Bridge earned his M.D. in 1969.

A year of an obstetrics/gynecology residency at Stanford helped Bridge realize that such unpredictable hours could adversely affect the management of his ongoing Crohn’s disease. He returned to Ann Arbor for a residency in anesthesiology, which he went on to practice in New Mexico and Iowa.

After retiring in the mid-1990s, Bridge went on a cruise and met the ship’s physician. When he returned home, he received a call from the medical director for Carnival Cruise Lines, asking if he would like a job. Two weeks later, he was living on the ocean. Since then, Bridge has toured the world as a ship’s physician with an array of cruise lines. Bridge says he likes handling everything from simple seasickness to more serious illnesses that require patient airlift to the mainland. After decades in anesthesiology, he has thoroughly relearned basic medicine, a process he says never really ends.

Today, when he’s not at sea, Bridge lives in San Diego. He’s never forgotten the solid training he received at Michigan, nor the scholarships and loans — including the support from his father’s orphanage — that made his education possible. In planning his estate, Bridge has arranged for the establishment of a scholarship in the Medical School.

“I was always aware that I was privileged to go to school because of other people’s kindness,” he says, “and I can think of no better way to reinvest in our country.” —WHITLEY HILL