ONE OF THE THE FIRST
Arthur L. Frank, MD, PhD, MSSM ’72, MSH ’77 is a member of the first matriculated class at Mount Sinai Medical School. He went on to receive his PhD in biomedical sciences from the City University of New York. Currently he is Professor of Public Health and Chair Emeritus of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at Drexel University School of Public Health.
Dr. Frank joined the Mount Sinai School of Medicine because of the hospital’s incredible reputation and for the sense of adventure around joining the institution at its inception (his admission notice came via telegram). Mount Sinai faculty demonstrated the importance of honesty and thoughtfulness in the work of academic physicians. His mentor, Dr. Kurt Deuschle, headed the Department of Community Medicine and was a model department administrator, never afraid to stand up for what was right within his field.
A Career in Public Health
Dr. Frank chose occupational medicine because it pulled together many of his interests. As an undergraduate he majored in anthropology while also starting cancer research. This allowed him to interact with people of varied cultures and focus on diseases of interest across the world. He has had the opportunity to work with patients in China, Mongolia, India, South America, and Europe among other places.
His research focus has been in the area of occupational lung disease, especially related to asbestos. He started working on asbestos issues 50 years ago as a first year student at Mount Sinai under the guidance of Dr. Irving Selikoff, a leading asbestos researcher at the time. Dr. Frank has also worked as a physician in the coal fields of Kentucky, at one point as an academic running a medical department for about 1,000 miners.
Joining Medicine
When asked to give advice to students, Dr. Frank urges every student to follow his or her heart when choosing a specialty. He notes that Occupational/Preventive Medicine lends itself to an academic career, since the hours tend to be predictable though the work can be quite varied. As medicine recognizes the value of pro-active, community focused models of care, understanding how to prevent injuries and illnesses is more and more important to health systems across the country. Spiraling student debt still keeps many students from joining this needed profession, however, which continues to struggle with a lack of trainees.
Dr. Frank stresses the importance of student scholarships to help solve this pressing problem in his field. As someone who has benefited from scholarships in high school, college and medical school , Dr. Frank appreciates firsthand the opportunity that scholarship support gives students and knows how important it may be in allowing a student to pursue their chosen career.