Lyman
E. Bilhartz: Talented doctor, outstanding professor
08:34 PM CDT on Tuesday, May 25, 2004
As a medical school student, Dr. Lyman E. Bilhartz was among the brightest of the bright. He traded a promising future in research to focus his talents on practicing medicine and teaching at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
He became a professor of internal medicine. His skills as a gastroenterologist were often in demand by colleagues seeking advice in his specialty. The class of 2005 at UT Southwestern recently honored him as an outstanding teacher.
Dr. Bilhartz, 51, died Monday of a brain tumor at his Dallas home.
Services will be at 4 p.m. today at Northridge Presbyterian Church, 6920 Bob-O-Link Drive in Dallas.
Dr. Bilhartz was a great teacher and a true doctor, said Dr. Daniel W. Foster, professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern, where, until recently, he was chairman of the department.
"Most of us used him as our primary gastroenterology consultant," Dr. Foster said. "The thing I loved about him, even though he saw a lot of fancy people, he treated the everyday patient who was just sick, exactly the same way. He was that kind of true doctor."
Dr. Bilhartz was also considered a great teacher, Dr. Foster said.
"In our medical school, the students and the residents evaluate the teachers just as we evaluate the students. He always got really high marks for his teaching."
Born in Dallas, Dr. Bilhartz was a 1971 graduate of Justin F. Kimball High School.
Dr. Bilhartz initially studied engineering at the University of Texas at Austin because his father and brother were engineers, said his wife, Janet Bilhartz of Dallas.
But he enjoyed the science classes and the human side of medicine and decided to go to medical school, his wife said.
He earned his medical degree from UT Southwestern in 1978.
At UT Southwestern, Dr. Bilhartz was a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society. As a professor, Dr. Bilhartz had served as faculty adviser of the honor society, which limits its membership to the top 16 percent of a given class.
After graduating from UT Southwestern, Dr. Bilhartz was selected for a residency at the University of California at San Francisco, a top program, Dr. Foster said. Dr. Bilhartz was selected chief resident in San Francisco.
He returned to Dallas in 1982 for fellowships in gastroenterology at UT Southwestern. He joined the faculty in February 1986.
"He loved his job; he loved being a doctor," Mrs. Bilhartz said. "That's what he enjoyed about the medical school, that it allowed him to do so many different things."
Dr. Bilhartz was an ordained elder and Sunday school teacher at Northridge Presbyterian Church.
He also enjoyed the outdoors, especially hiking in Colorado.
In addition to his wife, Dr. Bilhartz is survived by two sons, Jacob Bilhartz and Nathaniel Bilhartz, both of Dallas; a daughter, Tess Bilhartz of Dallas; his mother, Joy Bilhartz of Dallas; two brothers, Skip Bilhartz of Oak Point, Texas, and Terry Bilhartz of Huntsville, Texas; and two sisters, Linda Bannick of Dallas and Helen Marek of Colorado Springs, Colo.
Memorials may be made to Northridge Presbyterian Church or the division of gastroenterology at the department of internal medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, P.O. Box 910888, Dallas, Texas 75391-0888.