How I became a pediatrician and what you can learn from this experience

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.