David D. Rutstein papers

David Davis Rutstein (1909-1986), S.B., 1930, Harvard College, M.D.; 1934, Harvard Medical School, Boston, joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School in 1947 as Professor of Preventive Medicine and was head of the Department of Preventive Medicine until 1969. In 1966, he was appointed the Ridley Watts Professor of Preventive Medicine, and held that position until his retirement in 1975. Rutstein's earlier appointments include serving as Chief of the Cardiac Bureau of the New York State Department of Health, Albany, from 1940 to 1942, Deputy Commissioner of Public Health for the New York City Department of Health from 1943 to 1946, and a consultant in preventive medicine for many hospitals in New York and Massachusetts from the 1940s to the 1970s. Rustein played a national role in the organization of medical care, the integration of preventive medicine into the care of individual patients, and the measurement of medical outcomes. In the 1960s, he directed a study on forming health maintenance programs, lobbied for a change in state laws regarding birth control for the poor, and advocated the use of nurse midwives for delivery. Some of his later studies with the United States Veteran’s Administration were on the genetic basis of alcoholism and on standards of health care. In 1955, Rutstein began a forty-episode television series on WGBH-TV (Boston) called, “The Facts of Medicine.” This was one of the first uses of television to inform the public about local and national health concerns and current research.

Born on 05 February 1909 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Rutstein’s career in academic medicine began after his graduation in 1930 from Harvard College and then from Harvard Medical School in 1934. After clinical training at the Boston City Hospital and Children’s Hospital, Boston, he taught at Albany Medical College and the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, before joining the Harvard Medical School faculty in 1947 as Professor of Preventive Medicine. He was head of the Department of Preventive Medicine from 1947 until 1969. During this time, he conducted teaching rounds at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, Boston City Hospital, and the Rheumatic Fever Service of the House of the Good Samaritan, Boston. He taught medical students preventive clinical medicine as it interfaces with the basic sciences, as well as epidemiology, experiment design, bioengineering, and health services research.

Rutstein's clinical and epidemiological work included studies on: cardiovascular and physiological changes resulting from infectious diseases; the treatment of rheumatic fever, as conducted in thirteen research centers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada with the goal of measuring ACTH and cortisone in the treatment of rheumatic fever (and as supported by the American Heart Association’s Council on Rheumatic Fever and the British Medical Research Council); and later, research on measuring and improving the quality of medical care, as well as studies involving the genetics of alcoholism, as conducted at the United States Veteran’s Administration. Rutstein held positions such as President of the American Epidemiological Society, and, in addition to membership in many national medical and scientific professional organizations, was elected to the Council of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Medicine of France, and the Royal Society of Medicine (London). Awards include the Jubilee Medal of the Swedish Medical Society, the Gold Heart Award and Award of Merit from the American Heart Association, and the French Legion of Honor.

During the course of his career, Rutstein authored numerous research articles that cover diverse topics such as cardiovascular disease prevention, Rheumatic Fever, and delivery of health care and services. His publications include scientific papers published in national and regional medical journals, and books including Lifetime Health Record (Harvard University Press, 1958), The Coming Revolution in Medicine (MIT Press, 1967), Engineering and Living Systems (MIT Press, 1970), and Blueprint for Medical Care (MIT Press, 1974).

David D. Rutstein died in 1986, and at the time was survived by his wife, Beverly, a son, David W. Rutstein, a brother, Sydney, a stepdaughter, Ruth Saunders, and two grandchildren.