Giving Back

The primal duties shine aloft like stars;
The charities that soothe, and heal, and bless,
Are scattered at the feet of man, like flowers.

                   William Wordsworth (1770-1850)


Giving Back

Growing up, I was taught the value of participating in community more by example than by teaching.  Even though I only knew my grandfather Mayer for a few short years, I knew he was not only a joiner but a leader.  From his activity in fund-raising for charities, serving on the draft board in World War I, working for our state's government, leading drives to sell war bonds in World War II, being a life-long Rotarian, Mason,  being elected to lead the American Optometric Association, and probably plenty of other activities I have no knowledge of, he set a pretty high bar for the family.  That all ended in 1948 when he passed away.  My dad took up some of his father's calling by choosing, in a much quieter way, to give back to the community.  For all the time I was in school, he was very active in the Parent Teacher Association, the PTA (which I believe is no longer called that anymore).  For years, he was the treasurer, making sure funds went for the benefit of our school children and raising scholarships for those deserving and needy students.  He even served alongside the famous women's rights activist, Bella Abzug, who was the PTA president, eventually to go on to Congress.  Sadly, as his son, I don't think I ever appreciated any of this, as our conversations were sparse and few.

Dad

Grandpa Mayer

So...where did that leave me, once I had reached my career goals?  In Pediatrics, there is a "specialty" that is defined by a synthesis of clinical practice and public health principles directed toward providing health care to a given child and promoting the health of all children within the context of the family, school, and the community.  In more simplistic terms, It is called Community Pediatrics which really means that pediatricians shouldn't confine themselves to 9 to 5 schedules, seeing patients in their offices, but need to get out into the community, both local, national and, yes, even international, advocating, improving, and nurturing the lives of children everywhere.  It is often said that "children don't vote", so, they need a voice to look after their interests.  Children, as I often tell my medical students, don't grow up in a vacuum.  They are loved and nurtured, developing and growing up in families, both immediate and extended.  They have friends, go to school, and exist in communities.  By extension, taking care of the community serves our children.

Fortunately, I had an excellent mentor in all this, my first partner, Dr. James Sayre, mentioned in previous posts.  He essentially sat me down and told me I had to get involved!  I took that advice to heart but, unfortunately, joined the camp of those who cannot say "no" when asked to join this or that Board, organization, committee, etc.  I am finally learning, in my seventies, to pick and choose the causes I am passionate about as you can't be everywhere and do everything.

Jim took me to my first meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and this was the start of a long relationship for me with this organization.  I was greeted by Dr. Robert Corwin, at the time, the Chapter Chair.  "What do you want to do and what are you interested in?",  he asked.  Knowing about all the emotional upsets my young patients with dysfunctional families were having, I replied "Kid"s emotional well-being".  "Well, now you're the Chairman of the PSACFH (Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health) Committee, so run with it!"  What I didn't know is that there was no committee but I was to start it, eventually growing it into a state-wide entity.  From that moment, I was hooked and worked my way up in the organization, eventually becoming the Chapter Chair myself and then moving on to national committees, and eventually, Chair of the AAP's National Nominating Committee.  This work involved travel all over the country, to San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, Florida, Chicago (our headquarters), New Orleans, New York City, Toronto, and even Cape Cod among others.  I got to meet many people, make friends from everywhere, and, once in a while, experiencing a few treats like hearing Fred Rodgers address our group.

I remember I was at a meeting in Washington and, of course, as there was always some entertainment, attended a performance by the Capital Steps, the political satirists that make fun of present political situations in a hilarious way.  I was sitting in the front row next to a distinguished bearded gentleman, our Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, a very serious person with a rather severe demeanor.  He was responsible for the war on tobacco and highly respected.  In the middle of the performance, he stood up and walked out.  "Wow, he must have been offended by the performance," I thought to myself.  I was shocked when, during the next skit, Koop, himself appeared on-stage as part of the act, bringing down the house.

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop didn't suffer fools lightly!

Once, while attending a meeting in San Francisco, I was invited to a small cocktail party by the company that makes the whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine.  At the time, the on-air personality Jenny McCarthy was disrespecting the science of vaccines for children and, unfortunately, too many people took her "advice" over that of their pediatricians, probably resulting in many sick children and not a few deaths.  Someone at the party invited me to cross the room and meet someone.  I was introduced to the actress Kerry Russell who was there with her husband.  She was holding her baby son in one arm and a glass of wine in the other.  She had just become a mom and felt very strongly about vaccines, becoming the spokesperson for the whooping cough vaccine and the anti-Jenny McCarthy!  We clinked glasses and I toasted her new born and chatted for awhile.  A lovely young woman, far from the killer Russian spy she portrays on "The Americans"!

Kerry Russell

I also had the opportunity to lobby in Washington by attending the AAP's Legislative Conference.  I was put up in the Ritz-Carlton, a first for me.  I checked into my hotel and when I got on the elevator, the elevator operator greeted me with "Good morning, Dr. Mayer, you're on the sixth floor".  I never figured out how he knew my name or floor but it impressed me to no end!  At the conference, we were given lessons on how to lobby our Senators and Congress members on Child Health and had Senators as guest lecturers.  It was during the Clinton administration and they were pushing their health care bill.  We wanted to be sure that children's health was included.  I, particularly, was interested in assuring children's mental health care and parity with health benefits in general.  I got to lobby Sen. Alphonse D'Amato and Sen.Daniel Patrick Moynihan's offices as well as Rep. Louise Slaughter, our congresswoman.  It was a pretty heady experience for me and, although humbled by it, I felt I was doing something important.

Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan from New York

My Congresswoman, the late Louise Slaughter

After a full day of lobbying, I met with my pediatric colleagues from all over the country over dinner and we compared notes about our experiences that day.  The most humorous one was from a young woman pediatrician from South Carolina.  She had gotten in to see Sen. Strom Thurmond, the longest-serving Senator in US history, at that time, being 100 years old!  He had a long but checkered career, initially a Dixiecrat turned Republican who favored State's rights.  He was the man who gave the longest filibuster in history to prevent the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1957.  I asked her what they had discussed.  She smiled and said that after her elevator speech pushing for children's health care insurance coverage, he looked at her, he reached into his desk and gave her a Strom Thurmond keychain, complete with his likeness,  thanking her for her time and called her "Sweetie" before sending her on her way!

A few years later, I was honored to be asked by the Chief Judge of New York, Judith Kaye, to serve on the Court's Parent Advisory Committee.  It involved numerous and intense meetings in NYC with Judges, Social Workers, Psychologists, and Child Advocates to develop a statewide system to which families undergoing divorce proceedings in the courts would be referred by judges to learn how to parent their children, not only through the process, but for years to come, cutting down on the eventual morbidity we knew divorce would create.  After a few years of meetings, we were proud to present our findings and recommendations to the Courts, something of which I was extremely proud.

The culmination of several years hard work!

Through all these experiences, I treasured meeting many wonderful and caring people, some of whom I stay in touch with today.  I had, indeed, gotten "out of my office" to do good.  I think my grandfather and my parents would have been proud.