mean you don't care about
them."
Just as Jews are well-repre-
sented these days in the ranks
of the medical world, so are
women. Laura Rubenstein, a
second-year medical student at
WSU, says about 50 percent of
her class is female.
"I think that's very good. The
patients we're dealing with are
women and men and I think it
University of Michigan medical students fill a lecture hall.
relating to people," he says.
`That's a really important part
they don't emphasize enough
when you're getting into medical
school."
In the 1990s, it's a rare med-
ical student who says he or she
is in it for the money. In fact,
most students predict that, af-
ter health-care reform, doctors
will not earn the meaty incomes
associated with physicians of to-
day. On top of that, loans take
years to repay. Eighty percent of
1992 medical-school graduates
were steeped in debts averaging
$56,000, according to the Amer-
ican Medical Association.
"You do not go to medical
school to be rich," says WSU
first-year student Michael Lum-
berg. "You can start off a lot ear-
lier and make money in a much
easier way. In medical school,
you give up so much ofyour life.
So if you're going to medical
school for the money, you're do-
ing the wrong thing."
Mr. Lumberg, a 23-year-old
University of Michigan gradu-
ate, anticipated the need to
make sacrifices before he entered
WSU Medical School last fall.
During his undergraduate years
at U-M, the avid sports fan could
spend full days watching tele-
vised athletics.
"My friends and I would hit
the couch at 10 a.m. and
wouldn't move for 11 hours," he
says. "I have an unbelievable en-
durance for sitting and watch-
ing games."
This fall, Mr. Lumberg did the
unthinkable. He renounced
sports. But all has not gone to
waste. Since entering medical
school, Mr. Lumberg has applied
his sitting skills to marathon
study sessions.
Event To Address
Headache Dilemma
RUTH LITTMAN STAFF WRITER
T
he $1,000 question: Why is
a local gynecologist orga-
nizing a symposium on
headaches? For Dr. Ed-
ward Lichten, the answer is
clear: Headaches have a lot to do
with women's health issues.
In fact, 70 percent of all mi-
graine sufferers are women who
typically complain of head pain
I just before or during menstrua-
r
"The other day I sat and
studied for six hours. I took
maybe five minutes for a
break," he says. "Some peo-
ple can't do that. It's a skill
acquired over time."
As things have turned
out, Mr. Lumberg makes
Scott Segel
the grade while still find-
ing time for some recreation. ("I
gives them more choice," she
watch Sports Center on ESPN
says.
every day to know what's going
Contrary to an older school of
on in world.") But he admits his
thought, Ms. Rubenstein's rela-
social life is limited and feels
tives did not tell her to pursue a
thankful for his girlfriend of sev-
less-demanding field of study.
en years and family members,
"My family has been extremely
all of whom have supported his
supportive of my decision," she
studies.
says. "Education was always
"Your dates have to under-
something we valued."
stand that they're going to be
Not that she doesn't contem-
second-best because you have to
plate the future challenges of
put medical school fast," he says.
juggling medicine with a hus-
"And then they have to realize
band and children: "I'll be choos-
that just because you're not
ing
a specialty where I can find
spending time with them doesn't
An obstetrician-gynecologist
in Southfield, Dr. Lichten spe-
cializes in headache research and
treatment. Every day, nearly
one-third of the patients he
treats complain of head pain.
But Dr. Lichten believes
physicians do not have to spe-
cialize in headaches to help peo-
tion. Hormones, tension, diet and ple who suffer from them.
other factors also trigger the
"Headaches aren't mysteri-
problem.
ous," he says. 'They often can be
And not just in women. Men diagnosed and treated by den-
suffer, too.
tists, internists, physical thera-
"Headaches are the No. 1 rea- pists and other health
son people go to the doctor, the professionals."
No. 1 reason for work loss and
To that end, Dr. Lichten has
one of the No. 1 reasons for peo- joined forces with the OHEP
ple to buy over-the-counter Center for Medical Education
drugs," Dr. Lichten says.
and Providence Hospital to or-
balance between family and ca-
reer goals."
That's what Amy Indenbaum-
Green did. The WSU Medical
School graduate passed her
board examinations in internal
medicine before switching to
physical medicine and rehabil-
itation. She is now completing
her residency program at Sinai.
Though the work is still de-
manding, the hours are more
regular.
Today, Dr. Indenbaum-Green
keeps a schedule enabling her to
spend time with her husband.
Their first child is due in May.
`The challenge (for women) is
balance," she says. To all
medical students, Dr. Inden-
baum-Green advises: "Study
hard, but enjoy yourself, too. And
pick something you love, like I
did."
Balance seems to be a watch-
word for increasing numbers of
male medical students. Seth
Himelhoch, 25, was inspired to
study psychiatry during his sum-
mer as a Project Join intern at
Borman Hall nursing home.
A few years later, between his
first and second years of medical
school at the University of
Michigan, Mr. Himelhoch met
Sheila Jelen, a U-M undergrad-
uate who shared his interest
in literature. They remet in
Israel and married last
summer. Juggling marriage and
medicine, he says, "broadens my
horizons.
"It's so easy to become an au-
tomaton to the medical world.
At some point, you suddenly be-
come this mass of information
and you start asking yourself,
`Who am I?'
"Now, I don't have to talk
about medicine when I come
home at night. We talk about po-
etry."
❑
ganize a two-day symposium on
headaches May 3-4 at the Novi
Hilton. The first day will be open
to the public. The second will of-
fer clinicians and residents a
"hands-on" course in headache
management.
Both days will feature the Na-
tional Headache Foundation's
executive director, Dr. Seymour
Diamond, and his daughter, Dr.
Merle Diamond.
The symposium has a three-
pronged purpose, Dr. Lichten
says: to educate men and women
about headaches, to inform
physicians on diagnostic proce-
dures and treatment, and to
HEADACHE page 48
Dr. Edward Lichten
4 7