In Memory of Jonathon O. Cole
To the Editor: Thank you for the timely and fitting memorial to Jonathon O. Cole.1 It brought back so many memories of his kindness and genius. What was not mentioned was his clinical approach that reflected his encyclopedic knowledge of the literature as well as his remarkable memory for patient details. I first met Dr Cole when I was a resident in a program across town. He spontaneously spent 20 minutes on the phone with me consulting about a difficult patient. I have no memory of those clinical issues, but I distinctly recall Dr Cole’s graciousness and respect in dealing with a scared and overwhelmed resident. I later went on to work for him in the Affective Disorders Program at McLean Hospital, where I witnessed his ability to listen and formulate treatment options that was beyond compare. He had an almost uncanny capacity to find an effective treatment strategy in even the most challenging of cases. His clinical acumen, his research insights, and his kindness to colleagues will be sorely missed.
Reference
1. Schooler NR. Jonathan O. Cole, MD (1925-2009): innovator in clinical psychopharmacology and of the ECDEU/NCDEU tradition. J Clin Psychiatry. 2011;72(3):286-287. PubMed doi:10.4088/JCP.10com06726
Author affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts. Potential conflicts of interest: None reported. Funding/support: None reported.
doi:10.4088/JCP.11l07037
© Copyright 2011 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.
