I'll retype it. I did it to myself.
Jefferson may promote a noted brain surgeon
The expected appointment of Robert H. Rosenwasser has caused concern among some former residents.
Robert H. Rosenwasser, an internationally prominent brain surgeon, is expected to be named chariman of the department of neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University as early as today when the board of trustees meets.
That possible appointment has raised concern among some former Jefferson doctors because of an incident at the school two years ago. Rosenwasser brought a gun to a May 2002 meeting with medical residents, and, by some accounts, pointed the firearm at one of them.
As chairman, Rosenwasser would oversee a major department at Jefferson with 13 surgeons and 12 residents - doctors getting advanced training to become neurosurgeons.
Members of the department are among the most active surgeons in the nation treating patients with brain and spinal cord injuries. They operate at the Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience in the former Wills Eye Hospital building at Ninth and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia.
A leader in the field, Rosenwasser has specialized as both a cerebrovascular neurosurgeon and an interventional neuroradiologist, according to the university.
Two years ago - and only three weeks after being appointed to the position of neurosurgery residency program director - Rosenwasser was removed from the post after residents complained to the university abou the gun incident.
University officials said they thoroughly reviewed the incident and that it involved an unloaded Civil War replica.
A letter written shortly after the incident that was signed by five of the six residents at the meeting and shared with their lawyers described the gun as a "large revolver".
That letter lays out the residents' recollections of the events at the early-morning meeting. It states that Rosenwasser pointed the gun directely at one of them after saying that it was his "peacemaker" and that, "where I come from, you don't point a gun at anything you don't intend to shoot."
Rosenwasser, through university spokeswoman Phyllis Fisher, referred questions to Thomas J. Nasca, dean of the medical school.
Nasca said the incident had been examined by university administrators and a faculty affairs committee, which recommended administrative actions against Rosenwasser.
"I am not able to item by item reconcile that initial account", Nasca said. "All I can tell you is that the committee took those concerns very seriously and attempted to understand exactly what happened."
Nasca added that each resident was interviewed, and "inconsistencies" emerged.
"If anyone had been proven to point a gun and threaten a resident with a firearm, they would not be put in a position of authority and indeed would have been dismissed", Nasca said.
In an interview Friday, Lee M. Buono, the resident at the meeting who did not sign the letter and who is now a practicing neurosurgeon in Texas, said he does not remember the gun being pointed at anyone or that Rosenwasser said anything manacing to any of the residents.
As a result of the reviews, an official reprimand was placed in Rosenwasser's personnel file, he was removed from the prestigious but unpaid position of neurosurgery residency program director, and he made a public appology to the residents.
"Dr. Rosenwasser's performance has been exactly as we would have wanted not only in accepting responsibility for that particular event, but his approach to the remediation that was laid out by the faculty affairs committee and the administration", Nasca said.
"I fully expect he will continue to perform in a superior fashion not only as a neurosurgeon, but also as a departmental leader."
Julian Mattiello, one of the residents present during the gun incident who has since resigned, said the residents feared their future careers could be put in jeopardy because of the influence Rosenwasser wields in the tight-knit neurosurgery community.
"I recall that the university administration assured us that we would be protected from any professional repercussions as a result of reporting the incident", Mattiello said.
Nasca and a university spokeswoman disagreed.
"The commitments made to the residents were fulfilled by the actions taken two years ago", Fisher, the university spokeswoman said.
