The Pratt & MedChi

When Dr. William Osler became President of the Faculty in 1896-97, one of his missions was to completely update the pitiful books, pamphlets and periodical publications that made up the library. 

The Pratt, as it's known, was located on Cathedral Street between West Franklin and West Mulberry Streets, just around the corner from Dr. Osler's residence on West Franklin Street. 

The original branch of the Pratt had opened in 1886, and by 1894, it had one of the largest collections in the country. However, the growing collection meant that a new building was necessary and by 1931, the library's staff, services and 400,000 volumes had moved to temporary quarters at Redwood Street and Hopkins Plaza while the original building was demolished and a new building was constructed on the original site. 

One unique feature of the newly built main library was the huge windows, akin to those at a large department store, for showing off the books held in the library's collection. Unusually, it featured an open, light-filled main hall.

Backing up a few decades to 1896, Dr. Osler needed a trained librarian to manage the Faculty's peripatetic collection of books, which had both grown and shrunk over the previous half-century, and so he consulted his friend, Bernard C. Steiner, the head of the Enoch Pratt Free Library for a recommendation.

Within two weeks of her interview with Dr. Osler on behalf of the Library Committee, Miss Marcia Crocker Noyes had accepted the position of librarian at a salary of $300 per year, and moved into an apartment in the Faculty’s building at Hamilton Terrace.

At that time, librarians were expected to be on call 24/7. A physician could ring and request a book. The librarian would search the card catalogue and pull the book from the shelves. The physician would arrive shortly thereafter, consult the book, and hurry back to his ailing patient.

While Miss Noyes knew how to catalogue and how libraries worked, she knew nothing about medicine. She said that she trained herself for the job by just doing it. She was more than willing to learn, and Dr. Osler was a good and patient teacher. 

MedChi's association with the Pratt continues to this day, and over the decades, some of our board members have also served on the Pratt's board.

Reynaldo L. Lee-Llacer, MD

 Dr. Reynaldo L. Lee-Llacer, of Stevensville, Md, passed away on April 8, 2022 at age 88. Among his many life experiences and accomplishments, he treasured most his 60-year marriage to the love of his life, Zorayda.

His story begins with his birth in San Fernando, Masbate, Philippines on May 25, 1933. As a youth he dreamed of being in the military, but ultimately chose a career in medicine. He attended the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines where he participated in ROTC and earned his medical degree in 1958.

After a three-year tour on his home island of Ticao, managing a typhoid epidemic and cholera outbreak, he left for the United States in 1962 and completed an internship and surgical residency at Prince George’s General Hospital in Maryland. He then completed a fellowship in Shock Trauma at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore, where he published scientific medical research. After two years of practice as the House Surgeon in Fairfax Hospital, Va., he opened a private surgical practice in Clinton, Maryland. Through his tireless dedication he cared for and treated countless patients for 50 years.

Dr. Lee-Llacer was board certified in General Surgery and was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. As his expertise grew, he was called on by many medical organizations to serve in leadership roles. He was appointed by Governor Harry Hughes to the Board of Physician Quality Assurance.

Reynaldo Lee-Llacer was President of the Prince George’s Medical Society, President of the Medical Staff at Doctors Community Hospital, Prince George’s Maryland, President of the Medical Chirurgical Society of Maryland (Med Chi), elected Maryland Delegate to the American Medical Association for 16 years, President of the Society of Philippine Surgeons in America, President of the Philippine Medical Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC, President of the PEACE Foundation, Founding member of D’Bicolanos & Friends, Founder & First President of the UST Alumni-Thomasian USA, and Founder of the Philippine Medical Foundation.

He served on numerous committees and councils in the state medical society and Doctors Community Hospital, as well as other organizations. The Maryland Legislature often called him to testify on medically related matters. Dr. Reynaldo Lee-Llacer was a beacon of Maryland medicine and served humbly in the service of others.

He lived in the service of the Lord as a devout Catholic. He was an unselfish and giving individual who spent his own personal time and money serving on surgical medical missions in his beloved birth country of the Philippines. The Maryland Medical Journal dedicated issue to Reynaldo Lee-Llacer 1990, the UST Alumni Association Leadership Award 1990, Twenty Outstanding Filipinos in the United States 1993, Distinguished Son of Masbate 2005, Outstanding Service to the Filipino American Community 2005; the Dakila Achievement Award 2007, the UST Total Award 2016, and the first PMA Management Award are among the many honors Reynaldo Lee-Llacer received for his dedication, generosity, and humanitarianism. 

His love for medicine and care for his patients were only eclipsed by his adoration and love for his wife Zorayda, his five children, and eight grandchildren.

Dr. Lee-Llacer was an avid lifelong learner whose interest spanned beyond medicine. An artist himself, he admired and collected art. Among his many interests he loved to travel, read, play guitar, sing, dance, play chess, do crossword puzzles, write poems, and study world history. He was a true patriot of America and avidly supported US military organizations, veterans, and first responders, including law enforcement.

Submitted by the family of Dr. Lee-Llacer