After work last evening, I went to visit a friend, who's recovering well from very serious abdominal surgery. Presbyterian Hospital, founded in 1871 by the Alliance of Philadelphia Presbyteries, is now the Presbyterian Medical Center of the University of Pennnsylvania Health System. It's a remarkably fine facility with a wonderful staff and is situated and landscaped in such a way that it's easy to forget that you're in the heart of West Philadelphia. And there's a detail on the grounds that's stayed in my mind through several visits.



Outside one of the hospital buildings, near a courtyard now alive with marigolds, is a sculpture in stainless steel of a group of four doctors in consultation, detailed even to the stethoscopes, lab coats, and patients' charts. Another doctor, young, purposeful, and still some yards away, hurries to join the discussion. Suggesting collegiality, thoughtfulness and urgency, it's meant to be a realistic portrayal of medical professionals at their work. And it undoubtedly was so when it was commissioned. But time and opportunity have changed the face of the profession, and even though the sculpture remains in the tradition of realism as a mode of representation, it's no longer realistic in its depiction. All of the doctors, you see, are men. And all are Caucasian.