TAFP loses life member, physician emeritus

TAFP life member Isaac Kleinman, M.D., passed away on June 28, 2011. Kleinman opened a family medicine practice in Rosenberg in 1956 and practiced full-scope medicine including obstetrics-gynecology and surgery for nearly five decades. He taught hundreds of medical students and residents at Polly Ryon Memorial Hospital as the residency program director and director of skilled nursing, and provided emergency coverage for Polly Ryon and Tri-Star Medical Services.

Kleinman was named the 2011 TAFP Physician Emeritus for his longtime service to the specialty. His children—Michael Kleinman, Sam Kleinman, and Eve Zehavi—accepted the award on his behalf at TAFP’s Business and Awards Lunch on July 30 in Dallas.

As Michael told the audience at the ceremony, “he administered anesthesia, he removed gallbladders and appendixes, he delivered over 5,000 babies, he managed strokes and heart attacks, casted fractures, and treated myriad diseases, all for the good of mankind.”

“My dad believed in lifelong learning,” he continued. “Decades before it became a political buzzword, he felt that family physicians should treat and not triage; he recertified in family medicine at least five times; and became certified in sports medicine, geriatric medicine, and emergency medicine. He felt that since 90 percent of patients present first to their family physician, the maintenance of broad competence was a first priority for all family physicians.”

Kleinman was awarded his medical degree by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and completed his internship at Graduate Hospital University of Pennsylvania. He served in the United States Navy from 1944-1946.

He is survived by his wife Sara; children, Michael and wife Ellen, Sam and wife Diane, and Eve and husband Elan; grandchildren, Alyssa, Jonathan, MacKenzie, Mallory, Bryce, and Maya; and sister, Miriam Sabel.