Madison, Wisconsin: University Archives and Records Management Services
Summary
A Milwaukee native, Bernhardt thoroughly enjoys serving on the School of Medicine and Public Health Admissions Committee, which has held a special spot in his heart since 2002. Bernhardt says he had several “medical mentors” who were instrumental in shaping his career. He worked with Manucher Javid, MD, professor of surgery and neurosurgery, while doing research in the summer of 1960. The following year, he spent 10 weeks at St. Mary’s Hospital with Richard J. Botham, MD ’52, as his preceptor; Botham later became Bernhardt’s senior partner at the Dean Clinic. After a general surgery residency at UW Hospital where he was the chief surgical resident from 1967 to 1968, Bernhardt continued with thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. For 30 years, Bernhardt taught the School of Medicine and Public Health's fourth-year elective course called Clinical Correlative Anatomy, alongside James Pettersen, PhD. In Bernhardt’s current “Surgery for the Non-Surgeon” elective class, he imparts life skills and wisdom to fourth-year medical students. In this 2011 interview with Dr. Richard Hendricks, Bernhardt describes his time as a surgeon in Madison, at University Hospital, St. Mary's, and Dean clinic. He discusses various chairs of the surgery department through the years, and he reflects on his years teaching surgery residents.