Ed Rudin, MD

He was a showman of sorts, conscious of his connection to those about him. He was meticulous in dress and carriage, his manner of speech and writing measured and clear.

Words mattered to Ed. He wrote his own obituary, and a reflective piece that appears in this issue. He offered his body to the school of medicine, and rejected a funeral in favor of a concert to mark his love of music.

Ed was born in Philadelphia, PA, on September 9, 1922. Music was an early interest, but when he decided his piano-playing skills were wanting, he concentrated on medicine. Completing his BA at Temple University, in Philadelphia, he served in the US Army in an ambulance battalion and at a station hospital during World War II. He returned to Temple and completed his MD in 1947.

There he met Anna Noto, an instructor in the School of Nursing. After his internship, they married in June 1948 in Philadelphia, and came to California for his residency at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto, where he affiliated at Mount Zion Hospital and Children's Hospital, Langley Porter Institute of UCSF, and VA outpatient clinics. He had to return to active military duty, as a physician in the US Air Force.

Nanci Ann and twin daughters, Barbara Jean and Carol Jeanette, were born in San Francisco and Palo Alto; a son, Jay Nelson was later born, in Riverside.

Captain Rudin taught at the Air Force Base Leadership School and worked with junior officers to divert troubled airmen from disciplinary actions and separations brought about by the disruption of their lives by two wars. Thus began his lifelong interest in mental health consultation and community psychiatry.

After discharge, he became director at the Riverside State Mental Hygiene Clinic. In the 1950s he worked with Dr. Portia Bell Hume, the state Legislature, the Governor, local governments, and the California Medical Association to develop the Short-Doyle Community Mental Health Services Act, California's first program for community-operated, state-aided, comprehensive voluntary mental health services.

In 1958 he and his family moved to Sacramento. He became Deputy Director for Community Services in the California Department of Mental Health. He resigned when the State began to shift patients into underfunded community programs.

Working with Wayne Pollock at Sutter Hospitals, he developed the Sutter Diagnostic and Treatment Center, and, under the federal Community Mental Health Centers Act, its non-profit community mental health center. He began to consult regularly with community organizations like the Stanford Home and the City Unified School District. At the request of the American Psychiatric Association and the National Institute of Mental Health, he began to provide consultation to hospitals throughout the nation.

In 1980, he helped found the Sacramento Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, heading its speakers bureau and later serving as its president and program director. His public programs, "Redefining National Security" and "A Multi-Ethnic View of The New World Order," won the Broad Street Pump Award from National PSR. In 1997, Sacramento Area PSR published the four-year study on the roots of violence he had compiled with the aid of a multi-disciplinary committee.

In 1990, his psychiatric colleagues created the Edward Rudin, MD Award for Excellence in Governmental Relations and named him the first recipient. In 1994, the Sacramento County Bar and the Sacramento Mediation Center named him Peacemaker of the Year for his work with, and for, children. As President of the Central California Psychiatric Society, he organized the California Psychiatric Association's state legislative effort linking state psychiatrists with legislators to discuss mental health and psychiatric issues. In 2003, the American Psychiatric Association honored him as a Fifty-Year Distinguished Life Fellow and Member.

At the UC Davis School of Medicine, he supervised residents and fellows in children's pyschiatry, and conducted seminars on mental health consultation. In 1985, he received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Depart-ment of Psychiatry. He developed a series of seminars on ethics for psychiatric residents and fellows. He developed a "responsible way" for first-year psychiatry and family practice residents to study medical ethics by using short fiction, as reported in Academic Psychiatry, Spring 1998, the last of his published professional articles. In 1996, Ed Rudin received the Department's Distinguished Service Award.

He produced programs for the Sacramento Chapter of the United Nations Association dealing with conflicts, disarmament, and globalization.

Despite his lingering illness, he continued his many activities with valor and wit. On May 31, 2003, he was honored for 47 years of service to the Family Service Agency.

For many years, Ed Rudin served on the Medical Society's Editorial Committee. In 2000, he became Editor of Sierra Sacramento Valley Medicine, and received the society's Medical Honor Award. The committee is diverse, and most of us hold strong opinions, as did Ed Rudin.

I, among others, did not always agree with Ed. Yet, I know of no instance when he was other than the perfect gentleman, tough but never dismissive, interested in understanding an opposing argument. Working with him was an invaluable and gratifying experience. Ed set the civil tone for our deliberations, and I only regret that I was not fortunate enough to know him longer.

"Ed Rudin has been a significant influence in my life. He always nurtured the best in me, from residency days to recent advice on re-starting PSR. I will miss his integrity, warmth, perceptiveness, and activism." - Harry Wang

"Ed was meticulous and thorough - including the way he carefully controlled his diabetes. As editor, he sought out new authors, often helped them write articles, and was always on the prowl for ideas. He was an intelligent, articulate writer who needed little editing, except for an occasional long sentence. One of his articles was about using a cane at various stages of life. I can still visualize a very young Ed Rudin strolling down the street, jauntily waving his toy cane." - Ted Fourkas

"He was able to articulate to psychiatry residents the perspective of the patient, with great sensitivity and authority. His advocacy for patients was greatly appreciated and much needed." - Joe Tupin

"Ed taught in the psychiatry department since its inception in 1969. His course, Ethics in Medicine, was stellar. He was very important in my life professionally and personally, and in that of generations of residents." - Kay Blacker

"After [my wife] Claire's death he ... went out of his way to give me emotional support and encouragement. I accepted it and appreciated it but I never got to thank him and that makes me feel bad….I know that he faced his with equanimity and peace." - Richard Johnson

"Ed loved his work, his interactions with people, especially professional colleagues. On Tuesday before his death, he went to his consultation with staff of the Family Service Agency fully intending to notify them that it would be his last. But he couldn't bring himself to tell them. He got such satisfaction in helping them to help others that he did not want to stop. If he couldn't go to them, he would ask them to come to our home. Little did he know that would really be his last session with them." - Anne Rudin

- John Loofbourow, MD