Truman G. Blocker SocietyJohn P. McGovern Academy of Oslerian Medicine
The Truman Blocker Society seeks to provide students with opportunities
to relate to faculty in non-academic settings, aimed at increasing their
awareness of health career choices and increase their scientific and
clinical knowledge in ways extraordinary to, and complementary with, the
standard curriculum; and provide mentors with opportunities to know
their students better and thus provide for their educational and
personal needs. Society members seek to engage in community service
activities that build on the students' particular interests and the
mentors' particular expertise; participate in a range of
extra-curricular learning experiences including seminars, field trips,
and interest groups, and, in all these endeavors, to have a good time.
Truman G. Blocker
Truman G. Blocker Jr. (1909-1984) was born in West Point, Mississippi and grew up in Sherman, Texas. He graduated from Austin College in 1929 and UTMB in 1933. He was the first president of UTMB (1967-1974). An extremely skilled plastic
surgeon, Dr. Blocker was an expert in maxillofacial procedures and in the field of burns. During the 1947 Texas City disaster, Dr. Blocker was instrumental in the immediate and continuing care of over 800 patients. A prolific scholar of 182 publications,
Dr. Blocker also procured for UTMB one of the largest medical history libraries in the United States. The Legion of Merit was one of the many awards Dr. Blocker received in his long, illustrious career.
A Way of Life
The vision of the Osler Student Societies is to provide developing physicians insight into "A Way of Life", described by Sir William Osler, not through formal lecture, but through the guidance of mentors in contact with students within and outside
their academic setting.