“People who go into endocrinology like detective stories — they like to try to figure things out.” – William F. Young, Jr., MD
I’m originally from the state of Michigan. I completed my medical school at Michigan State University, and I completed my endocrinology training at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. After completing endocrinology training, I joined the staff at Mayo clinic, so I’ve been on staff there now for 27 years.
People who go into endocrinology like detective stories — they like to try to figure things out. Endocrinology is very complex, a lot of interacting hormones. So, people who go into endocrinology tend to be puzzle-solvers.
The Netter Collection of Medical Illustrations: The Endocrine System provides physicians at all levels of training with a visual guide to the endocrine glands, starting with embryology and physiology and then pathophysiology, so the audience is very broad. So this includes medical students, residents, PhD students and physicians in practice.
The first edition was 1965, so this is a many-decade update to this classic book in which Netter, who is an amazing medical artist, painted all the things that they knew about in endocrinology in the 1960s. Our challenge was to update that: preserve all the fine art and then update it to 2011. Carlos Machado — who contributed original artworks as well as meticulous updates to many of Dr. Netter’s original plates — is an amazing artist, and it’s just phenomenal that he’s part of this project.
Most of us who went to medical school after 1965, grew up with the Netter paintings. They are classics — everyone recognizes when they see them. There is no other book like this.
William F. Young, Jr., MD, MSc, is Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, holding the Tyson Family Endocrinology Clinical Professorship in Honor of Vahab Fatourechi, MD. Dr. Young is the recipient of multiple education awards including the Mayo Fellows Association Teacher of the Year Award in Internal Medicine, the Mayo Clinic Endocrinology Teacher of the Year Award, the Mayo School of Continuing Medical Education Outstanding Faculty Member Award, and the H. Jack Baskin, MD, Endocrine Teaching Award from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists in recognition of his profound impact in teaching fellows in training.
Dr. Young’s professional honors include his receipt of the Distinguished Mayo Clinician Award, the Distinction in Clinical Endocrinology Award from the American College of Endocrinology, and the Distinguished Physician Award from the Endocrine Society. Dr. Young’s clinical research focuses on primary aldosteronism and pheochromocytoma. He is an author of more than 200 medical articles on endocrine hypertension and adrenal and pituitary disorders, has presented at more than 300 national and international meetings, and has been an invited visiting professor at more than 100 medical institutions.
