David L. Simel Oral History Interview, 2021

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Summary

Creator:
Duke University. Medical Center. Department of Medicine.
Abstract:
Dr. David Lee Simel, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Vice-Chair for Veterans Affairs in the Department of Medicine at Duke University, where he also acts as Chief for Medical Service at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. This collection contains 1 oral history interview conducted on March 5, 2021 by Joseph O'Connell as part of the Department of Medicine's Oral History Project. In the interview, Simel discusses his early experiences in and around medicine, his research in clinical exam and diagnostic tools, and his work at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and as Vice-Chair for Veterans Affairs in the Department of Medicine. The themes of this interview include veterans' health, medical training, hematology-oncology, and general practice medicine.
Extent:
1 interview (1 transcript) and 840 MB
Collection ID:
OH.SIMELD

Background

Scope and content:

Includes 1 oral history interview conducted on March 5, 2021 with Dr. David L. Simel by Joseph O'Connell as part of the Department of Medicine's Oral History Project.

In the interview, Simel discusses his early experiences in and around medicine, his research in clinical exam and diagnostic tools, and his work at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center and as Vice-Chair for Veterans Affairs in the Department of Medicine. The themes of this interview include veterans' health, medical training, hematology-oncology, and general practice medicine.

Biographical / historical:

Dr. David Lee Simel, MD was introduced to medicine as a potential career path at an early age, observing his ophthalmologist father who, at the time, worked at two racially segregated hospitals in Greensboro, North Carolina. His father's friendship with dentist and civil rights activist George Simkins Jr. allowed Simel to see first-hand the long struggle to desegregate public facilities in North Carolina.

Growing up, Simel visited his father at work, eventually joining the hospital staff as a summer worker while in high school. He recalls that in those "pre-regulatory days" he was able to participate in medical tasks including drawing blood and performing EKGs. A quick study, Simel was immediately passionate about medicine, and specifically the many tests, diagnostic tools, maneuvers, and conversations that could lead to a diagnosis or treatment plan for patients. Simel received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina and his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine (1980). Upon graduation, Simel completed his medical education with the following training: Fellowship in Hematology-Oncology, Medicine at Duke University (1981-1981 and 1985-1986); Medical Resident in Medicine at Duke University (1981-1984), and Chief Medical Resident in Medicine at Duke University (1984-1985). Simel remained at Duke and is a Professor of Medicine and Vice-Chair for Veterans Affairs in the Department of Medicine, where he also acts as Chief for Medical Service at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Throughout his years of training, he honed interests in hematology-oncology, general practice medicine, and the rational clinical exam. As a researcher, a highlight of his research and educational work has been editing the "Rational Clinical Examination Series" published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a series birthed out of a relationship he forged with JAMA at the age of 30.

Another passion of Simel's is the health and well-being of veterans. While working as a staff physician at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Simel quickly learned that working with this specific patient base would require specialized training and sensitivity. One of the initiatives he is most proud of is that of the VA's work to create one of the first comprehensive health centers in the country dedicated to women veterans.
Simel is married to Joanne Piscitelli.

Acquisition information:
Accession A2021.038 (transferred by Joseph O'Connell, April 2021)
Processing information:

Processed by Lucy Waldrop: May 2021

Arrangement:
Organized into the following series: Interview, March 5, 2021.
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Contents

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Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], David L. Simel Oral History Interview, Duke University Medical Center Archives.