Professor Emeritus George Engel dies

Engel

Engel's teachings about the psychological and social aspects of illness influenced thousands of physicians. Along with the late John Romano, he helped to develop a curriculum 50 years ago that made SMD famous for its multidisciplinary approach.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and Johns Hopkins University medical school, Engel and Romano met at the University of Cincinnati where Engel was teaching. He joined Romano at SMD in 1946.

There, the two doctors laid the foundation for psychosomatic medicine, which studied the influence of psychological forces on human biology and illness, said Jules Cohen, professor of medicine. Engel enhanced his biopsychosocial approach through the '50s and '60s, and published his seminal paper on the subject in 1977.

"We are just as interested in what's going on at the family level as we are in what's going on at the cellular level," he said in a 1979 interview. "And we see all these things as interrelated."

He also pioneered the use of film to train physicians and evaluate patients. He used filmed patient interviews "to get physicians to think about how every gesture and everything they did influenced the patient," said Edward Hundert, senior associate dean for medical education.

"His influence extends far beyond Rochester," Hundert adds. "Today, the goal of almost every medical school is to train doctors to use the biopsychosocial model."

"He saw that it's possible to scientifically understand human behavior and use that knowledge to better understand the illness and patient as a human being," said Peter Engel, George Engel's son, an associate professor of medicine at Albany Medical College.

George Engel, a native of New York City, officially retired in 1979, but remained active at SMD as professor emeritus.

He was predeceased by his wife of some 60 years, Evelyn. In addition to his son, Peter, Engel is survived by a daughter, Betty Engel, of San Diego and two grandchildren.

A memorial service for Engel will be held on Saturday, January 29, at 3 p.m. in the River Campus Interfaith Chapel. A reception will immediately follow the service in the chapel's River Room.

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