How I became a pediatrician and what you can learn from this
experience.
I had always wanted to become a doctor. I can never remember a time when I did not
want to become a doctor. My mother
tells the story that when I was about four years old I would go around the
house with part of an old bookcase handle and say I am a doctor.
When we lived in Denver we took Life magazine. One of the issues was devoted to the making
of a doctor. It detailed all of the
steps that were necessary to become a doctor.
I then outlined my life with what I would have to do to become a doctor.
I have a clipping from the Rocky Mountain News from that time. It was a brief introduction to the Rocky
Mountain News carriers. My picture was
in the paper as well as my dreams for the future. I wanted to become a doctor and so stated in the article.
When I was in high school in Lander I took the courses that
would qualify me to attend college. My
aim at that time was still to become a doctor and that is what I told people
when they ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up.
In the summers when I was in high school I worked for my
uncle Howard in Soda Springs, Idaho.
One summer I remember a book that I read detailing the life of a
gynecologist. I decided at that time
that I would like to be a gynecologist and an obstetrician.
When I attended Weber College I took the courses outlined
for pre-medical studies. I wanted to
prepare myself so that I could become a doctor and an obstetrician and
gynecologist.
After I came home from my mission I attended Brigham Young
University. There I took courses, which
would further qualify me to attend medical school. It was there that I applied to a number of medical schools for
admission after three years of undergraduate training. I was accepted to at least three medical
schools, but the University of Utah was the first one to extend an invitation
and acceptance to the following year's freshman class of Medical school. During that time I also applied for a grant
from the state of Wyoming to cover my out-of-state tuition at the University of
Utah. This was called the WICHE
program. It was an agreement between
all of the western states that did not have medical schools and a few of the
states who did have medical schools that they would allow students to attend
medical school and waive the out of-state tuition.
And so it was that I attended four years of medical school
and realized my dream of becoming a doctor.
I was still pointed toward becoming an obstetrician and
gynecologist. When people would ask me
what I wanted to specialize in, I would tell them OB. During my junior and
senior years of medical school I worked for the department of pediatrics. Also during my senior year I worked every
third night from seven at night till seven in the morning in the obstetrical
department at LDS Hospital assisting with and delivering babies. By that time I had decided that I liked both
fields and would do a residency in obstetrics and then do a residency in pediatrics
and do neonatal medicine. This was
unusual because at that time they did not have a specialty of neonatal
medicine.
I chose to do my internship at the Dee Memorial Hospital in
Ogden because they had a program in obstetrics that would allow you to spend
two years in Ogden and one year at the University. This I thought would give me a broad experience in all aspects of
the specialty. While in Ogden and
working in the department of obstetrics, I found that it was less than I had
anticipated and I decided to do a residency in obstetrics at the LDS
Hospital. Since I had worked there
during my senior year, I felt I had a good chance of getting the residency
there. I made my application and waited
expectantly for a letter of acceptance.
One day a pharmaceutical representative that I knew from
Salt Lake asked me if I was going to LDS Hospital for my residency. I told them that I had not yet received a
letter of acceptance. He told me that
they had already filled their residency slots.
I was concerned and phone the head of the department of obstetrics at
LDS Hospital and asked him about my residency application. The reply was that they must have lost
it. You can imagine how I felt. It was only a few months and I would be
finished with my training and had no place to go for further training.
The next thing that happened was that my father called and
said that the draft board was going to draft me into the Army after I finished
my training. Not too long after that I
called Mrs. McOmie, who was the secretary of the draft board, and asked her
when I would receive my draft notice.
She answered and said that I would not be drafted at that time. In the meantime because I thought we were
going to be drafted I went and bought a brand-new Volkswagen bus, because I
thought we would need better transportation because we were going to be in the
military.
Now I was in a pickle.
I had previously been examined to receive an appointment as an Air Force
doctor, but rejected because of my previous history of duodenal ulcer. I called the Army and inquired about
volunteering for the draft and they informed me that it was impossible.
I then decided that I would try and get a pediatric
residency. I called Dr. Doug
Heiner. I had worked in his immunology
laboratory between my junior and senior years and he was on the staff of the
department of pediatrics at the university.
He told me that they had filled all their residency slots, but that he
would ask Dr. Eugene Lahey about it.
Later I received a phone call from Dr. Heiner informing me that Dr.
Lahey had found some money for another resident in the program and that I was
accepted to fill that slot. Thus I had
someplace to further my training. I
still had interest in obstetrics, but thought I would do pediatrics first and
then do the obstetrics later.
The first year of residency went well. Dr. Lahey then decided to go to Oakland
Children’s hospital and Dr. Pat Bray, a pediatric neurologist, became the head
of the department. Things were in
somewhat of a turmoil and I became somewhat disillusioned. I even considered quitting and going into
private practice only partially trained.
I talked to Dr. Heiner and he encouraged me to continue and finish the
residency. I weighed the options and
decided to stick it out.
By the time that I had finished my residency I was making
$350 per month as chief resident at Primary Children’s Hospital. I looked into the obstetrical residency at
LDS hospital and they were offering $150 per month for first year obstetrical
residents. By this time we had four
children and our living expenses were such that I decided to forego the
obstetrical residency and find a place to practice. I had a few offers and now the world was my oyster, so I faced my
next decision, where to practice.
I have never regretted the changes that resulted in my
becoming a pediatrician. I loved my
life in Lander and my practice. I never
went to work wishing I had gone another direction. As I look back on it now, I can see the hand of the Lord guiding
my path to its destination, but I did not see it at the time. I was where He wanted me to be, doing what
He wanted me to do, taking care of His children in an area of His kingdom that
to some was a waste place.
Each of you will have what I term “course corrections” in
your life. You may not have all of your
dreams realized. Disappointments are
the rule, not the exception in this life.
As long as you have a strong testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ, He will guide you ever so gently to your place in the sun. Take
Grandpa’s word for that.
