This Oct. 9, 1978, photograph appeared in the Post’s Salisbury VA Medical Center Edition, marking the hospital’s 25th anniversary. Here, Mike Cowick, a physician’s assistant student from Catawba Valley Tech, checks the breathing and heart rate of patient Jasper Sellers. The nurse at left is Patricia Gupton. The physician at right is Dr. Henry Ernst. At the time, the VA had 29 different training programs such as the one in which Cowick was enrolled.