MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

New members were elected to three year terms on the MAA Board of Directors. Pictured above are two of the new members, Jonas Rappeport, ’52, and Dana Simpler, ’84. Martin Passen, ’90 (not shown), is the third new member.

2002–03 MAA Board of Directors Officers Morton D. Kramer, ’55 President Dennis Kurgansky, ’86 President-Elect Kenneth Hoffman, ’70 First Vice President Mark Applefeld, ’69 Treasurer Charles Hobelmann Jr., ’71 Secretary Board Ronald Goldner, ’65 Alice Heisler, ’63 Charles F. Hoesch, ’75 Donna L. Parker, ’86 Martin I. Passen, ’90 Jonas R. Rappeport, ’52 Donald C. Roane, ’65 David B. Sigman, ’93 Dana Simpler, ’84

Morton D. Kramer, '55
128th President
Medical Alumni Association

At this year’s Match Day celebration in March, I overheard a student lamenting that, while she was pleased with her placement for training, she’ll be stretching to cover loan obligations.

Let me give you a few startling figures: students at the University of Maryland Baltimore campus received $58 million in financial aid last year—for just one year of studies! Roughly five out of every six medical students received some form of aid—a scholarship, loan or grant. The average student is graduating here with $90 thousand in debt, requiring an $11 hundred dollar-a-month payment.

How times have changed. I don’t know how much my father-in-law, Dr. Julius Waghelstein, ’35 paid during his final year of medical school. But two decades later, in my junior year, I paid $225 (I recall the excitement of receiving $25 a month during internship!). By the late 1990s, as my daughter Rachel and son Andrew completed their medical degrees, the cost had risen to around $12 thousand. It gets worse: this year the cost is more than $14 thousand for in-state students and $27 thousand for out-of-state students.

As president of the alumni association, I am asking you to help us ease the financial burden of our medical students. Since the 1920s, the Association has administered a low-interest loan program with no interest accruing or repayments expected until one year after training. Last year we provided relief to more than 100 students. Yet, despite our efforts, we were unable to accommodate all requests for assistance. No student should ever be denied admission, nor should one be forced to defer or delay advancing toward graduation, due to financial distress. It is the ultimate goal of the association to provide necessary tuition aid to every needy student in good academic standing. Please be generous this fall when you receive a call from a classmate or one of our student callers during the phonothon. I hope we can count on your support. Thank you.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Dr. Kramer earned a degree from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in 1950 before enrolling in medical school. Upon graduation, he interned at Maryland and was a resident at Sinai Hospital. He became the first resident in neurology at Maryland in 1957 and served a fellowship here in 1960. Dr. Kramer was a staff attending at Maryland for ten years before joining St. Agnes Hospital to establish their first department of neurology and EEG in 1971. He also established the first EEG at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Dr. Kramer remained as chief of neurology at St. Agnes until retirement in 1995. His work appeared in numerous publications and papers. An avid collector, he has a large assortment of antique decoys, and he enjoys goose hunting and fishing. Daughter Rachel received a medical degree from Maryland in 1997, and son Andrew followed in 1999. He had been married for 33 years to Carol Sue, who shared his interests until her death in December 2001.