Sidney N. Zubrow, 96, physician and mentor

Sidney N. Zubrow, 96, a Philadelphia physician associated with Pennsylvania Hospital for half a century, died Saturday of natural causes at his home in Center City.

Dr. Zubrow came from humble roots; he was a member of the self-described "Fourth Street gang" in South Philadelphia whose members later became doctors, lawyers, and judges, his family said.

He graduated from Central High School of Philadelphia in 1930 and, while there, befriended artist Jack Bookbinder. Years later, Bookbinder painted his friend's portrait, which hangs outside the Molly and Sidney N. Zubrow Auditorium at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Dr. Zubrow earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1934 and his medical degree in 1938 from Hahnemann School of Medicine. He held dual certifications as a fellow of the American College of Physicians as an internist and a cardiologist.

In 1938, he bought a small family practice from another physician at Fifth and Pine Streets. The practice came with an unexpected bonus - the former doctor's mother, his family said.

"She would sit on the steps and tell people to come in," said Dr. Zubrow's daughter, Betsy Z. Cohen.

In 1941, he interrupted his career to volunteer for military service at the outbreak of World War II, and was deployed to North Africa to treat patients and direct medical services for the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

Dr. Zubrow was discharged at the rank of lieutenant colonel and returned to his medical practice in Philadelphia in 1944. His experiences as a Jewish soldier on the battlefields of World War II were later made into a documentary titled From Philadelphia to the Front.

In 1954, Dr. Zubrow joined Pennsylvania Hospital as an admitting physician. He was known as a skilled diagnostician who taught clinical skills to younger doctors, whom he also mentored.

"For some people health care is a job, and for Sidney it was a passion," Kate Kinslow, executive director of Pennsylvania Hospital, said yesterday. "You just don't see that with everybody. He believed in [health care], and lived it in every single way."

"It wasn't about him as the doctor, it was always about what's best for the patient," she said. "Some doctors are going into concierge medicine now, where they do spend more time with patients. For Sidney, that was never a question."

Through the course of his career he treated more than 100,000 patients, most of them in his role as an internist, his family said.

"He primarily served generations of patients - whole families - with patience and wisdom," his daughter said. "Medical service is what defined his life."

He eschewed research or publishing, saying that his research was his patients - "his aim to transmit information about the human body, mind, and soul to the next generation of physicians," his daughter said.

In 1974, he was named associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, where he taught clinical skills.

He retired at age 82, but did grand rounds at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital by special request to teach young residents how to listen.

Dr. Zubrow met his wife, Molly, in South Philadelphia in the early 1930s. They married in 1938 and moved to 46th Street and Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia. In the mid-1970s, the couple relocated to Center City. Lately, he had resided on Rittenhouse Square.

In 1980, the two established the Molly and Sidney N. Zubrow Award to highlight humanism in medicine.

"He and Molly were very concerned that medicine not become a dry science, but that people remember the humanistic values that were implicit in the practice of medicine," his daughter said.

Each award winner delivered a lecture, which was featured in the Zubrow Lecture Series. The lecturers included Nobel Prize winners and groundbreaking researchers and educators.

"He wanted physicians to hear different views of what was being done in medicine beyond the borders of their own practice," his daughter said. "He thought a broader base of information would provide a better patient experience."

Dr. Zubrow's wife died in 1996 of Parkinson's disease.

For the last 10 years, he attended musical events with Barbara Moskow of Center City. The two enjoyed performances at the Curtis Institute of Music, by the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and chamber music concerts.

In addition to his daughter, Dr. Zubrow is survived by another daughter, Diane Z. Sand; four grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; a sister, Ruth; and many nieces and nephews.

A granddaughter, Abigail Cohen; a sister, Gertrude Gubernick; and a brother, Ralph, preceded him in death.

A service will be held at 2:30 p.m. today at Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael-Sacks, 6410 N. Broad St., Philadelphia. Interment is private.

The family will receive visitors at the Rittenhouse Hotel, 210 W. Rittenhouse Square, following the service until 9 p.m., and tomorrow from 4 to 9 p.m.

Contributions may be made to the Molly and Sidney Zubrow Lecture Series, c/o Pennsylvania Hospital, 800 Spruce St., Philadelphia 19107.