Family Practice Residency Graduation

June 26, 2003

Congratulations to our residents on completion of your family practice residency. Tufts is very proud of this program and of you. You have worked very hard to get here, but you did not get here on your own. Friends, family, and loved ones helped you along the way. Please join me in thanking them for all their sacrifices and support that have allowed you to make it to this day.

You are joining a noble profession. People will look to you for reassurance, for help during times of need. They literally will entrust their health and their lives to you. This is a great responsibility for which all of you are well prepared. I am confident that you will discharge your responsibilities well.

These days we hear far too much about the cost of health care, prescription drugs, and medicine. Some of you may know that I am an economist. Economists are often described, sometimes accurately, as people who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. But on this day when we mark the completion of your training, it is important to focus on the value and values that you bring to your patients, your communities, and your profession.

If you permit me to speak quite personally, I would like to suggest a role model for you - my father-in-law, Joel Fleet. Adele's father is a retired pediatrician. He was a wonderful doctor, indeed a legend in his community of Jacksonville, Florida. I think he represents the very best of the profession, and so did his patients. Let me tell you why.

First, he was an exceptional diagnostician. He kept up on the latest developments in the field, but he also had unerring clinical judgment.

Second, like all great doctors, he treated the whole patient not just the disease. In the case of a pediatrician this meant that he spent at least as much time treating nervous mothers and fathers as he did kids. In fact, he loves to tell the story of the mother who called him at 5AM in great distress after bringing her newborn home from the hospital the day before. "Dr. Fleet," she exclaimed, "I put my baby down to sleep at 11PM and it is 5AM and she still has not woken up. What should I do?" "Fall down on your knees and thank the Lord," he said without missing a beat.

Third, he ran his practice so that he made everyone who walked into his office feel comfortable and welcome. He practiced in the same office for 45 years, with the same nurse for 35 years. He never even changed the furniture. We used to kid him about it. Kids loved him. He gave the fastest shots in town.

Fourth, he was a man of principle. For every year that he practiced he spent an afternoon a week donating his time to a free clinic treating the indigent. He was the first doctor to admit an African-American baby to the major local hospital, refusing to send the sick child to the "colored hospital" where he knew they lacked the facilities to keep the child alive.

Fifth, he never lost his sense of humor. He was once awakened at 2AM by a mother who called because her child was running a 102 degree fever. "How long has the child been running a fever," he asked. "Two days," she responded. He asked her to meet him at his office where he saw the child. The next night, my in-laws went to a large party. They got home around 2AM. My father-in-law picked up the phone and called the mother. "I know your child has a hard time at night. Just wanted to check and see how he was doing," he asked.

Finally, my father-in-law never took himself too seriously. He and my mother-in-law once attended a costume party where he went made up as a woman, complete with a wig, lipstick, eye shadow... the works. While at the party he got a call to come into the hospital for an emergency c-section. Without any explanation, he showed up at the hospital in drag. He said nothing to anyone and acted as if this was perfectly normal for him. People still get a chuckle out of that one in Jacksonville.

When my father-in-law finally retired at the age of 72, his patients decided to throw him a retirement party. They rented the largest banquet hall in the largest hotel in town and filled it. The testimonials from the grateful patients kept coming and coming. It was an incredible outpouring of love, respect, and admiration for a remarkable doctor.

You are fortunate that you will have the opportunity to touch many lives just as my father-in-law did. I hope that your careers are as rewarding, personally and professionally. And if I could offer just one piece of advice it is to practice medicine so that you too will one day be similarly honored and respected by your patients. If you are able to do so, you will have a full life, and you will be rich in ways that really count.

To all our residents who are completing their training, congratulations on a job well done. We have great expectations for you. Good luck, and please stay in touch.