Interview with Robert Mulhausen

Robert Mulhausen was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 7, 1930. He attended the University of Illinois for both his undergraduate and medical degrees. He received his BS in Chemistry in 1951, his BS in Medicine in 1953, and his MD in 1955. He later received a MS in Internal Medicine from the University of Minnesota (1964). Mulhausen did his internship at Ancker Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1955-56 and his residency at the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in Minneapolis from 1956-59. In 1959, he joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota Medical School as an instructor. He was appointed assistant professor in 1964, associate professor in 1969, and professor in 1973. He also served as Assistant Dean of the College of Medical Sciences (1967-71), Assistant Dean of the Medical School (1971-73), and Associate Dean of the Medical School (1980-87). In 1973, Mulhausen left the UMN Medical School and joined that staff of St. Paul Ramsey Hospital where he served as chief of medicine until 1988. In 1988, he returned to the VA Hospital as the Associate Chief of Staff, Ambulatory Care, until 1995. Mulhausen is a specialist in internal medicine.Mulhausen provides a brief overview of his education and early career. He discusses the UMN Medical School’s decision to increase class size in the 1960s, the Health Sciences curriculum changes, and the reorganization into the Academic Health Center in 1970. He discusses his role as the representative of the dean’s office regarding facilities management, his role in space planning, and issues of space in the health sciences at UMN. He briefly describes the relationship of Twin Cities affiliated hospitals and the University Hospital and Medical School. He describes his move to St. Paul Ramsey Hospital as the chief of medicine, the establishment of a group practice plan at St. Paul Ramsey, his return to the VA hospital as associate chief of staff for ambulatory care, and some of the changes at the VA when he was there, including new outpatient clinics and reforming billing practices. He describes his research on acid-base balance and blood gas and the importance of obtaining blood gas machines for clinical use. He discusses the failed attempts to combine the University Hospital with the VA or affiliated hospitals in the 1970s and 1980s. He reflects on tensions between family practitioners and internists; house officers and changes in technology and computerization; relations between UMN health sciences schools and within the dean’s office; Elmer Learn and the Committee for the Study of Physical Facilities for the Health Sciences; his experience with the human volunteer policy; recruiting minority students, particularly American Indians; the relationship between clinical and basic science departments at UMN; and generally on the UMN Medical School, internal medicine, and primary care and geriatrics