Rodnan Gout Prints
Perhaps the most fun fact I learned about Dr. Kaplan is that he had something to do with the ubiquitous Rodnan Gout Prints showcased at each ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. When Dr. Kaplan got interested in old rheumatology prints, he visited a shop in London looking for items to add to his collection. He was told that a doctor in Pittsburgh had already requested that any old arthritis print that came into the shop be shipped to him.
When Gerald Rodnan passed away, Dr. Kaplan contacted his daughter. He went to Pittsburgh with Mark Andrejeski and was led to the basement, where a big pile of prints lay on the concrete floor. Dr. Kaplan came up with the idea of making reprints of the originals to sell to members for the benefit of the ACR. One of the original prints from Dr. Rodnan’s collection hangs on the wall of Dr. Kaplan’s study.
Retirement
Dr. Kaplan retired from practice in 2000, and this is what he said in his retirement letter to his patients, “It is so ironic that at a time when dramatic advances have happened to my specialty that I have chosen to retire.”
He still tries to keep up with what’s going on in rheumatology by reading online journals, but noted that so much has changed and everything is advancing so fast, that at one point it was scary for him. I completed my rheumatology fellowship the same year he retired (2000), and I can say that yes, so much has changed, for the better.
Early in his retirement, he and his wife of 68 years, Beatrice (he fondly calls her Bea), spent time snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. They used to be big enthusiasts of downhill skiing, water skiing, sailing and canoeing. They also liked to travel and have taken 85 foreign trips during their time together. Until five years ago, Dr. Kaplan was into photography, and one of his photos made it to the cover of the Archives of Internal Medicine in May 2004.
Fast forward to 2018: Now Dr. Kaplan’s week is busy with doctor’s visits, participation in the Health and Wellness Committee and Dining Committee where he and his wife live, and dinner conversations with my physician parents-in-law. Once in a while, he puts his rheumatology hat on and answers questions in the hallway about everyone’s aches and pains. There are certainly plenty to go around in a retirement community.