Ten years ago, Abner McGehee Harvey, his M.D. degree so new he had barely had time to frame it, was an intern at Johns Hopkins hospital. Last week, at 34, Abner Harvey became the hospital's physician in chief. Appointed to Sir William Osier's old chair of medicine at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Harvey had won a post as honored by doctors as a Supreme Court robe is by lawyers.
To older, greyer doctors, Dr. Harvey's selection as successor to venerable Dr. Warfield Theobald Longcope, 68, was a surprise. It should not have been. Even though such prestige-heavy professorships usually go to more experienced...