Varga Benedek szerk.: Orvostörténeti közlemények 149-157. (Budapest, 1996)

TANULMÁNYOK / ARTICLES - Huszár György: Balogh Károly professzor (1895—1973) életútja és iskolája. Születésének centenáriumára. Magyar és angol nyelven

an apartment in the city and started a private practice. In 1927 the hospital put him on its payroll, and at the end of that year he married. In 1932, he was promoted to adjunct professor, the first in the history of the Department of Stomatology. It is well known that systematic scientific work and publication of its results are the prerequisites of a successful career in academic medicine. Balogh was fully aware of this and started to publish soon after joining the clinic. Between 1924 and 1935 he had 27 publications, mostly in the field of dental medicine and oral surgery. His first significant success came in 1924 when he was awarded the prestigious Billing Prize for his study entitled Pathogenesis of the Epulis. (2) In this study he recommended substituting the term paradentoma for epulis, because this term reflects the origin of the lesion from the paradental tissues, whereas epulis is a generic term encompassing all tumors of the gum. Balogh was also involved in designing dental and surgical instruments which were to become widely used. (3, 4, 5) He adapted instruments used in general surgery to the needs of oral surgery, such as a retractor for dental surgery and a sharp spoon to remove radicular granulomas. Widely used today are the mouth spreader and raspatory to separate the gum before tooth extraction. Among his important scientific publications of that period are Technique of dental apical resection and Healing of the dental extraction wound after removal of the facial lamella of alveolar bone. During this period of in-house service Balogh attended numerous national and international congresses where he also presented papers in cities including Vienna, Rome, Bologna and Lwow. In 1926, he made a three-month-long study trip to Paris and London. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Stomatologic Clinic, a Festschrift was issued. (6) The publication was edited by Balogh who contributed to it an article on Specialty Training at the Clinic. In this article he describes and analyzes the teaching of medical and postgraduate students and evaluates the various methods of continuing education in stomatology. Balogh himself participated in all three levels of teaching. In 1933, at the recommendation of his chief, Joseph Szabó, Balogh became a Privatdocent at the School of Medicine with his seminar entitled Pathology and Therapy of Dental Diseases. However, two years later, Professor Szabó did not renew Balogh's appointment. For a while Balogh continued to work without remuneration, but eventually this opportunity was also denied him. He retained the honorary title of a Privatdocent at the School of Medicine, but from 1935 to 1940 Balogh had no salaried position and saw only private patients in his downtown office. His private practice and family house made it possible for Balogh not to depend on a salaried position, but the lack of institutional supporting facilities limited his scientific activities. Balogh considered Szabó's decision not to renew his appointment unfair and undeserved. Although Balogh was a close co-worker of Szabó for 15 years, this episode heightened tensions between Balogh and Szabó, whose peculiarities, temperament and manners must have frequently caused consternation. (34) In an obituary immediately after Szabó's death Balogh characterized him as "a high-strung man whose moods fluctuated wildly". It must not have been easy to work under such a chief. Balogh's composure and judiciousness helped him to master these difficulties, but later among friends he rendered a rather negative verbal evaluation of Szabó.