A lifetime of practice: Memphis doctors celebrate half-century of healing
Dr. David Usdan and Dr. Vance Shappley have worked at Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis since it opened. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
From classmates to roommates to hospital colleagues for half a century, two Memphis doctors have shared a lifetime of career milestones.
Urologist Dr. Vance Shappley, 82, and ophthalmologist Dr. David Usdan, 83, both grew up in Memphis and worked at their family businesses.
Usdan lived in the Vollintine-Evergreen neighborhood and helped out at his father’s optometry practice.
David Usdan as a boy. Usdan is 83 now. (Courtesy David Usdan)
“I was the gofer, and Saturday was my day to help out,” he said.
Shappley grew up in Orange Mound and worked at his father’s grocery market on Lamar Avenue.
“My brother and I were forced to work in the grocery store seven days a week, and it did not take long before both of us realized we needed to be doing something else,” he said.
That “something else” was medicine for Shappley, who noticed his friend’s father, a doctor at the VA Hospital, had weekends off.
Shappley earned his undergraduate degree in health science from the University of Memphis. He then pursued his medical education at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine.
It was there that Shappley met Usdan, a fellow Memphis alumnus with his sights set on becoming a doctor. They were roommates for two years while receiving their medical education and gaining hands-on clinical experience.
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Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis Subscriber Only Dr. Vance Shappley Dr. David UsdanThank you for supporting local journalism.
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Aisling Mäki
Aisling Mäki has been writing about Memphis since she moved to the city more than 20 years ago. She’s worked for print, digital and broadcast news outlets, including Memphis Daily News and Action News 5 (WMC), as well as public relations agencies. Her work has earned awards from The Associated Press, Tennessee Press Association, Society of Professional Journalists and Public Relations Society of America.
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