Present at the creation. Interview by Wesley Curry.

This is the inaugural issue of Physician Executive under the auspices of the new American College of Physician Executives. In this and subsequent issues of the journal, we will feature an interview with a prominent figure in the health care delivery system. We begin with Robert A. Henry, MD, FACPE, President and CEO of SwedishAmerican Corporation, Rockford, III. A Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Physician Executives, Dr. Henry is a Past President of both the American College of Physician Executives and the American Academy of Medical Directors. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Physician Executive Management Center. Dr. Henry entered medical management in the early days of the profession and is a long-time member of the Academy and College, becoming a member of the former in 1975. He became a member of the College in 1980 and a Fellow in 1981. He became a Distinguished Fellow of the College upon its creation on January 1 of this year. He has followed the growth of the Academy and of the medical management profession for several years and has been an active contributor to the success of both. He is uniquely qualified to discuss both the profession and the professional organization that serves it. The following is a report on a conversation that was conducted with Dr. Henry in early November 1988 while he was in Tampa for a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Physician Executive Management Center.     

The role of an affirmed black cultural identity and heritage in the academic achievement of African‐Canadian students

This paper focuses on the educational experiences of African‐Canadian youth in Canada. Traditionally, the tendency is to emphasize the poor academic performance of black students or issues and problems related to reasons for academic failure or to stereotype them as ‘loud, lazy, muscular, criminal, athletic, dumb, deprived, dangerous, deviant, and disturbed’. In contrast, this paper looks at those who have achieved in spite of considerable adversity. The data show that factors such as pride in one's heritage and knowledge of one's culture contribute to academic success.     

The Relationship among Negative Affect,Distress Tolerance,and Length of Gambling Abstinence Attempt

The present study tested the theory that negative affect and one’s ability to tolerate distress is associated with failure to quit gambling during an abstinence attempt. Specifically, 16 current pathological gamblers who had at least one sustained period of gambling abstinence lasting a minimum of 3 months (i.e., delayed relapsers) and 16 current pathological gamblers who had never remained abstinent for a period longer than 2 weeks (i.e., immediate relapsers), were assessed for baseline levels of negative affect and stress reactivity, as well as faced with a psychological (mental arithmetic) and physical (breath holding) stressor. Compared to the delayed relapsers, the immediate relapsers displayed higher levels of negative affect and stress reactivity. Immediate relapsers also were less likely to persist on the psychological stressor, suggesting that one’s ability to tolerate the initial discomfort of an abstinence attempt may play an important role in gambling treatment outcome. The current project was completed in partial completion of the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology by the first author under the direction of the second author.     

A New Look at an Old Test

Fisher's exact test for 2 × 2 frequency tables is presented in a new format which, we believe, is easier to use and which permits a substantial saving in tabulation-space of critical values. Tables are provided here for total frequency N ≤ 25. Tables for N ≤ 100 are obtainable on request to the author