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After completing 35 years as a title page editor of CURRENT Medical Diagnosis & Treatment (CMDT) and with the publication of CMDT 2024, Dr. Stephen J. McPhee retired from his illustrious editing career. As a highly respected academician (with nearly 200 peer-reviewed publications) and a consummate clinician (everyone wanted Steve to be their doctor!), Steve brought his superb writing and keen eye to his editorial work. His contributions have been immeasurable and included expanding the topics covered in CMDT, recruiting many talented authors, and bringing his unfailing commitment to deliver the most current evidence-based information to clinicians throughout the world.
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In 1980, Steve came to University of California San Francisco (UCSF) as an Assistant Professor in the new Division of General Internal Medicine. He quickly became known as an expert diagnostician, teacher, clinician, and writer. A working-class kid who went to Yale University, Steve majored in philosophy and graduated summa cum laude while cleaning rugs in Yale’s rare book library and cleaning glassware in its science labs to support himself. As a medical student at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Steve was immersed in the Osler tradition, which prized expert diagnosis and treatment choices and constantly tested trainees’ acumen in Saturday morning Grand Rounds and daily ward rounds. He finished his required coursework in 3 years before beginning his Hopkins medicine internship. After finishing his Hopkins residency, Steve was selected to be Hopkins’ first General Internal Medicine fellow by the famed diagnostician and teacher of medicine, Dr. Philip Tumulty. Steve was then appointed to be an Osler Chiefs of Service, serving as the physician of record for one-fourth of the patients on the Osler Service each night.
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While at UCSF, Steve served as the primary care residency program director in the early 1980s. Following the unexpected death of his hospitalized toddler son, David, in 1986, Steve taught about medical mistakes and with Dr. Steven Pantilat founded the Palliative Care Service at UCSF. Steve edited the monthly “Care at the Close of Life” section in JAMA and this JAMA section was later turned into a book.
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After writing and annually updating the “Disease Prevention and Health Promotion” chapter in CMDT with his mentor and co-author Dr. Steven Schroeder, Steve became a title page editor beginning with CMDT 1989. Over the years, with Steve’s vision and contributions, CMDT expanded from 34 chapters in 1989 to 50 chapters in 2024. Today, CMDT is one of the most utilized resources on McGraw Hill’s AccessMedicine platform and is often ranked number one in key medical categories on Amazon.com. Steve and Dr. Maxine Papadakis developed the related Quick Medical Diagnosis & Treatment as a digital teaching tool for medical and other health professional students. Then, working with UCSF Laboratory Medicine and Radiology faculty, Steve and his colleagues developed the first edition of the [Pocket] Guide to Diagnostic Tests, which has subsequently been published six more times. Finally, Steve went on to prepare the first chapters of Pathophysiology of Disease: An Introduction to Clinical Medicine and remained as its editor for eight subsequent editions.
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Steve’s dedication to CMDT’s legacy is remarkable. He generously donated his collection of 35 annual editions of CMDT (1989 to 2024) to the McGovern Historical Center at the University of Texas Medical Center Library in Houston. It is a resource for researchers studying changes in the practice of medicine. In addition, by enlisting bright physician trainees to participate in literature searches for topics in each new edition, Steve provided a great educational opportunity for the next generation and ensured that CMDT was indeed current.
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Steve has our gratitude for his leadership, his prolific contributions to the science and art of medicine, and for his friendship. We wish him our heartfelt congratulations on a most extraordinary career.