Success in medicine, like so many other fields is dependent on a strong relationship with a mentor. This book describes some of the best examples of strong leaders in medicine who helped others through their wisdom and insight. -Steven Gabbe, M.D. Dean, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center In the years since Meador finished Vanderbilt School of Medicine in 1955, he has had the privilege of training under eight inspired teachers. Each chapter is devoted to his personal interactions with each of these men. These eight stories are not biographies in any usual sense of that word. They are pictures of each professor's method of teaching and his philosophy of medicine. These stories span the mid twentieth century-from 1952 to 1973. During that period, the knowledge of medical sciences expanded greatly. These stories end just as medicine began to shift from a caring profession into an aggressive competitive business. These were times of careful listening to sick people at the bedside. There was a minimalist approach still in place-the fewest drugs, the least surgery, and the least harm. Those approaches are gone and will never return. This book offers a look into a time in medicine that is gone forever.