In mid-October 1965, when the New York Medical College campus was still located in New York City, second-year medical student Lynn Geringer was sitting amongst her fellow students enjoying some downtime, when a third-year student took the nearby seat and began to banter. “There was a big table in the cafeteria in the Flower Fifth Avenue Building, where we would all sit and eat before going to the library next door. Bruce came and sat across from me, and that was it,” she recalls, “A month later I remember telling my mom—I’m going to marry him.” This was back when women medical students were still a rarity, and married physician couples even rarer. She explains, “That year, there were 12 women out of 128. The only other medical college in the U.S. to have more women medical students at that time was the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania.”
Bruce Heckman and Lynn Geringer were married the following year, and over the span of the next 52 years, Bruce Heckman, M.D., ’67, M.P.H., and Lynn Heckman, M.D. ’68, raised a family while growing their careers. Today their daughter Dorin is a telemetry nurse, and their son, Jason, is a liver and pancreatic surgeon.
Drs. Bruce and Lynn Heckman have robust healthcare careers through which they have left their indelible marks on the people and communities they have served. Specifically, Lynn made her impact after returning to complete her residency in psychiatry, and working in a Westchester-based hospital for seven years before opening her own private psychiatric practice in Sleepy Hollow, N. Y., which she opened 26 years ago and where she still sees patients today. Whereas Bruce—in addition to building his full-time private practice in internal medicine over the past 44 years, where he also still sees patients—he built a name throughout Westchester County, N. Y., for his work in affordable primary outpatient health care for the underserved populations. Notably, he served a 17-year stint as director of Open Door Family Medical Center in Ossining, N.Y., which he helped to grow from a one-room clinic to the five-location health center it has become today. He also founded the Phelps Hospice Program in Tarrytown (now Northwell Health Hospice Center) which he directed for 35 years.
Here the Heckmans share their favorite memories from medical school, their proudest professional accomplishments and their sage advice for future medical students.
What is your favorite memory from NYMC?
BRUCE: During the course in physical diagnosis, which I took at the end of my second year, I saw my first patient and performed my first physical. My patient was this sweet lady with diabetes, who came to the clinic for a checkup with every single complication imaginable. I remember it clearly because it was the first time I ever felt like a doctor.
LYNN: I agree with Bruce. That first clinical experience was my most memorable event, too. It’s the moment you realize you are really going to become a doctor. Back then, med students didn’t start clinicals until after they finished the basic science classes, whereas today these classes are integrated, so students don’t wait for clinicals like we did.
What is your proudest professional moment?
LYNN: My plan had been to specialize in psychiatry, but Bruce was drafted into the military which meant we were stationed in Virginia when our daughter was very small. I put that plan on hold and did not finish my specialty immediately after completing my internship. But when my younger child went to first grade I decided to go back, getting a residency in psychiatry at New York Cornell, Westchester Division (now New York-Presbyterian). I went on to complete my residency. Some people thought I wouldn’t go back, but I am so proud that I did. I appreciated my residency more because of the time I took in between, during which I was getting experience in general medical practice.
BRUCE: Recently, I helped to launch the new Palliative Care Program at New York-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital in Cortland. Before that I was the founding medical director of the Phelps Hospice Program—I’m fortunate to have been involved in the creation of those programs.
As mentioned, another meaningful accomplishment was my role as long-time director of the Ossining Open Door clinic. I took on this job after I’d learned to operate a high-volume outpatient clinic at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. After I completed my internal medicine and hematology residency and my M.P.H. from Yale, I was drafted to the Army during the Vietnam War; I was transferred to Fort Belvoir as Major, where I became chief of the outpatient clinic which provided care for 500,000 patients each year. That was my starting point in running clinics, so when we moved to Westchester County and I was asked to take on the directorship for Ossining Open Door—the clinic across the street from my private practice—I said yes. When I started, Open Door had hours twice a week and was located in the local church. I left that position when it became obvious they needed a full-time director.
Parting words of advice for future students looking to begin a career in medicine?
BRUCE: If you get satisfaction from caring for your patients, this is a wonderful career. Being a doctor today means dealing with the extra noise and annoyance coming from the insurance industry and regulations coming from the government. It’s a lot of business and bureaucracy—so my advice to all young people considering a career in medicine is ONLY do it if you love it. Because if you love what you are doing, all of that noise and annoyance goes away and it is all worthwhile.
LYNN: For young doctors with families, my advice is this: You can have it all—a career and a family— but the key is finding the right balance between time spent practicing medicine and time spent with your family. My personal advice is when looking for the right balance, work a little less and spend a little more time at home when the children are growing up. You have many years thereafter to work full time.
Editor’s Note: Bruce Heckman, M.D. ’67, M.P.H., and Lynn Heckman, M.D. ’68, were guests of honor as part of the Golden Legacy Society at NYMC’s 159th Commencement exercises.