”Nick Pedano was my guide and counselor—and also my cousin. My grandmother was a Pedano.
… When I decided I wanted to go to PCOM, Nick wrote a letter for me. Later, when I
had a little trouble with anatomy, Nick talked to his close friend Angus Cathie [then
chair of the department]. …Nick wanted me to be a surgeon, even though I said, ‘Nick,
I’m not good with my hands.’ … I remember one case, the second operation was 12 hours.
I’m short, so I had to stand on a stool, and I said, ‘Maybe it’s better if I pass
out.’ After it was over and we were taking the gloves off, I said, ‘Cuz, this is not
for me.’ He said, ‘All right. You’re going to go into internal medicine.’ … Nick could
order you to do something and you did it, and then— ‘Wait a minute, what am I doing?’
… The whole family had a commanding presence. Surgeons have to be commanding, and
they have to give orders, but they get away with more if the iron fist has a velvet
glove. … There were two parts of Nick’s personality. He was friendly, and he was bossy—but
he had a nice way about him. … He had a house down the shore in Margate, right by
the ocean, and he would have a party every year for the interns and for the residents,
a beautiful affair. He would wine and dine them because he appreciated what they did
for him. And he developed relationships all the way up the line. That was the social
Nick. In the operating room, he took no hostages, because he had to get things done
the way he wanted them done. … As chairman of surgery, Nick led the way to the growth
of PCOM by example. He had a massive service, with tons of patients. He went all over
the place to nurture family doctors. … The people who worked with him were indefatigable
and inextinguishable. The College is to a large degree where it is because of his
absolutely brilliant energy. … From Nick, I saw that leadership is not totally dictatorial
or totally social. It’s a good mixture of both. So I try to achieve that balance with
my house staff. Yes, we work hard. When it comes time for me to be the boss, they
look at me as the boss. But then I’ll say, ‘Okay, it’s five o’clock, let’s go over
to the Hilton.’ ”
Digest, the magazine for alumni and friends of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, is published by the Office of Marketing and Communications. The magazine reports on osteopathic and other professional trends of interest to alumni of the College’s Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and graduate programs at PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia.
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