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Ahead in Imaging

The British Society of Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology

Ahead in Imaging

The British Society of Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology

 

Peter Hirschmann, who has died aged 86, was a Dental and Maxillofacial Radiologist who served IADMFR as Editor-in-Chief of “Dentomaxillofacial Radiology” from 1988 to 2001 and who was awarded Honorary membership in 2003, after his retirement. He had a far-reaching influence on the development of the specialty of Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology in the U.K.

Peter Norman Hirschmann was born on 20th November 1937, to Samuel and Phyllis (née Samuels) Hirschmann. The family lived in Orpington, Kent, where Peter’s father was a medical practitioner. The outbreak of war in 1939 led to his father being called up for national service, leaving Peter, his younger brother David and their mother for the duration. Peter was a bright boy and obtained a scholarship to Sevenoaks School, from where he went on to Guy’s Hospital in London to study dentistry.

After qualifying as a dentist in 1961, Peter worked in junior hospital posts at Guy’s. He obtained his Fellowship in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1965. He developed a research interest in Biochemistry and studied for a master’s degree, awarded in 1967, and was successful in obtaining a three-year Medical Research Council Junior Research Fellowship to continue his work in the Biochemistry field, part of which was spent at Harvard University. It was there that he met Denise Duffy, whom he married in 1968 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Peter returned to England with Denise, in the hopes of developing his academic career further and managed to obtain a position at the Turner Dental School at the University of Manchester. This post combined teaching and clinical work in the X-ray department, but also gave Peter some opportunities to continue with his research with colleagues in the medical school. It was fortuitous that this job opened a pathway for him into Dental Radiology, which became the professional focus for the rest of his career.

In 1978, Peter crossed the Pennines to start a new position as a Consultant at The Dental Hospital at Leeds (subsequently Leeds Dental Institute), with honorary status at Leeds University to recognise his contributions to teaching. From this point on, his ambitions in biochemistry research had to be put aside. His job included the leadership role in Radiology and clinical diagnostic dental work in the “front door” Admissions department, where Leeds folk with toothache would queue up each morning, along with patients with more esoteric conditions. This was also where undergraduate students were taught the diagnostic method and dental “first aid”. Peter could be quite strict with students, and many former undergraduates will recall his exasperated voice saying, “it’s not an X-ray, young man; it’s a radiograph!”, but his insistence on systematic history taking and using investigations appropriately gave students an outstanding start to their careers.  Peter faced some challenges from senior clinicians, who were unfamiliar with a consultant colleague who could fearlessly challenge their X-ray requests, but he had the will to stand his ground and introduce more rational use of radiology. For many years, Peter organised lunchtime educational sessions at Leeds, in which he had the ability to appear sound asleep for much of the lecture, only then to ask the most pertinent questions.

Peter served on numerous national committees and working parties that set standards for the use of X-rays in dentistry. He served as President of the British Society of Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology (BSDMFR) twice, in 1989-91 and 2001-03, the latter period overlapping his retirement from clinical practice in 2001. Peter received the Diploma of Dental Radiology (DDR) of the Royal College of Radiologists in 1985, but he was awarded a Fellowship (FRCR) without examination in 1998 as recognition for his national status and work for the College.  Peter was also one of the Expert Panel that developed the European Guidelines on Radiation Protection in Dental Radiology, published in 2004, in which his wisdom was highly valued.

In the international context, Peter is best known for his work as Editor-in-Chief of “Dentomaxillofacial Radiology”, a post he held from 1988 to 2001. According to Peter, “In retrospect, I became an editor by happenstance” when a bid to print the journal from the University of Leeds Printing Service proved to be the cheapest option. This led the then Editor-in-Chief, Stuart White, to offer Peter the position of Associate Editor. Subsequently, when Stuart White stepped down from the post four years later, Peter was the best placed person to take on the main role.  Until then, the journal was biannual and had little recognition outside the IADMFR membership. During Peter’s term of office, he steered the journal on a course to being a “Journal of Head and Neck Imaging”, managing several unexpected changes of publisher before identifying a safe harbour with the British Institute of Radiology just as he retired.  Peter had a policy of “interventionist editing”, for example by meticulously checking manuscripts for use of English, and by asking perceptive questions of authors. One colleague (MR) has remarked that “Many times he asked, ‘do you mean this, or something else?’ In other words, he explained to us what we actually meant but had not considered, not even in our own language”. The challenges of the job would have exhausted most other people, but not him. The journal was obviously close to his heart, as was apparent when his former trainee (FC) came to Leeds for the first time to look at the job. She was told to look out for a man at the train station who, rather than having a carnation in his lapel, would be holding a copy of  “Dentomaxillofacial Radiology”.

While he built a successful career in Dental and Maxillofacial Radiology, Peter had a wide range of outside interests, particularly in the Arts, Music and Architecture. He had a love of ceramics and prints in particular. One of the authors of this obituary (KH) recalls being whisked away from a BSDMFR meeting in London so that Peter could share the delights of the Chelsea Art Fair. Peter was not only a consumer of the Arts, but he was often a Patron who provided both his time and money.  Notably, he was a member of the Victorian Society from 1990 to 2014, chairing the West Yorkshire Group for a period of time. He was involved with the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, The Leeds Library (2008-2013) and the Friends of Bradford Art Galleries and Museums. He was an enthusiastic attender of Opera North, of which he was a Patron, and also supported other vocal and choral works. The garden at the family home in Adel, Leeds, was immaculate. Later, when he and his wife downsized to an apartment in Harrogate, Peter took on the role of caring for the communal gardens.

Apart from his professional and cultural contributions, Peter was a stimulating and cultivated person with whom to spend time. As one colleague (MR) said, “he was a gentleman, but with a twinkle in his eye when we had differences of opinion”.  Peter Hirschmann died on Monday 19th August 2024, and laid to rest in a quiet, green place in North Yorkshire ten days later. He leaves his wife Denise, their daughters Joanne and Catherine, and grandchildren Shoshana, Dalia, Oliver and Alexander, along with many friends and former colleagues, to mourn his loss.

Fiona Carmichael and Keith Horner