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Lasting Legacy:
In a 1979 interview with the Washington Post, Dr. Lasalle Leffall, was quoted stating that he “often wondered of the price of courage”. He had witnessed the tribulations of Muhammad Ali, who just years earlier, defiantly, in the face of near professional ruin, refused to be drafted for the Vietnam War on the principled matters of religion and race. Leffall went on to state that he did not know if he possessed the courage to be so bold. At the time of his comments, Dr. Leffall had already established a reputation as a daring giant of surgical oncology. He was offered the position of Chief of Surgery of one of the oncologic surgery meccas, in Memorial Sloan Kettering, and was the current president of the American Cancer Society. Not only had he achieved great professional merit, he served honorably as a Captain in the US Army during World War II, and survived boyhood in the Jim Crow south.
In a time where surgeons were often known, even revered, for brash and quick temperedness, Dr. Leffall was a mild-mannered man. Known to his junior colleagues for listening, providing insightful and decisive advice and commentary. The surgeon, whose intellectual ability was ever on display, routinely thinking aloud in fluent German, remarked, “ I can't afford ever to do less than the best. I don't mind being the first, but I don't want to be the only. But I can't afford to be second-rate."
Dr. Leffall dedicated his career in academia to championing the cause of improving the black condition thorough increasing the focus of oncologic disease detection, most notably breast cancer and treatment in African Americans. His academic pursuits would garner him
Winning honored faculty award during the College of Medicine’s Honors and Oath ceremony more than 30 times, with over 150 publications, three books and visiting professorships at more than 200 institutions internationally, as well as 14 honorary degrees from universities in America and honorary fellowships from six international colleges of surgeons, second-rate would be utterly antonymous in any description of Dr. Leffall.
Dr. Charles R. Drew, black surgeon and hematologist, most notable for his contribution to the storage and preparation of blood plasma during WWII, would often state that “Excellence in performance transcend artificial barriers created by man”. Dr. Drew had a profound impact on Leffal, who would later title his memoirs No Boundaries: A Cancer Surgeon’s Odyssey. Resultantly, Dr. Leffal led a career that directly impacted countless patients, thousands of medical students, and hundreds of residents. Emory Department of Surgery’s own, Dr. Wendy Greene. Dr. Greene, a graduate of Howard University School of Medicine and resident trainee at Howard Hospital, recounts her experiences with her ‘surgical father’:
“I am reminded of him waxing poetically on the importance of the “Grace Notes” of life. These are the notes that add something extra to the daily chords of life and the care we provide to patients. I learned early on that meaningful conversations require a good listening ear for the spoke and unspoken concerns of the patient. “
Coincidentally, Dr. Greene’s own father, Dr. William Ricketts, and Dr. Leffall were medical school classmates and friends.