How/when did you become interested in science and medicine?

I was born in India, and grew up in Zambia in Southern Africa and went to high school there. All throughout high school, I particularly enjoyed my science and mathematics courses- my mom being a high school math teacher and my dad being an accountant, a love for math was expected! These courses got me interested in possibly pursuing the field of medicine. In addition, there were some childhood illnesses among family members the prompted me to consider a career in pediatrics early on. I decided to come to the United States for college. I completed my undergraduate degree at Purdue University, and then attended Indiana University School of Medicine.

What interested you to pursue a career in pediatrics?

What really attracted me to pediatrics were the opportunities that this specialty offers to interact with patients and their families in a way that could ultimately affect the health and development of these patients at a very exciting time in their lives. In your role as pediatrician, you are truly laying a foundation of health and well being for patients that will affect the next 80 years of their lives. The challenges of dealing with patients and their families in both times of stress during acute childhood illnesses – and in times of wellness during critically important preventive health visits – was a driving force behind choosing a career in pediatrics. You are truly treating much more than the pediatric patient; you have to interact with and keep in close touch with the patient’s family. This takes a person with excellent interpersonal skills and empathy.

What do you enjoy most about being a pediatrician?

One delightful aspect of being a pediatrician is the continuity and close relationships you develop with these children and their families as you watch these kids – your patients – grow up.

Is there a teacher or mentor who helped shape your career?

During my residency in pediatrics here at Children’s Hospital of Iowa, I have several fond memories of my training that include interaction with the fantastic pediatric faculty here, all of whom in some way led to develop into who I am and how I practice medicine. If you ask me about one person in particular, I believe that Dr. Gail McGuinness was one of those valuable mentors. She was the residency director when I was a resident here, and she impressed me with her dedication to neonatology and the practice of newborn medicine, her interpersonal skills, and her remarkable dedication to the education of physicians-in-training, both at the medical school and resident level.

How did you choose to come to the UI?

I came to the University of Iowa for my pediatric residency after graduating from the Indiana University School of Medicine. In my six years here as a trainee, in residency and then in fellowship, I came to greatly appreciate the phenomenal dedication to education, to clinical care and to research, demonstrated by the breadth of faculty in the department. Thus, when my wife and I were looking for faculty positions around the country when we were both at the University of Colorado – where I was a faculty member after finishing my training – we were drawn to the University of Iowa because of the tremendous strengths of the Department of Pediatrics in all three areas.

What kinds of professional opportunities or advantages does being a faculty member at Iowa provide?

The professional opportunities at Iowa relate to the opportunities to pursue and excel in any of the three areas I referred to, depending on the individual faculty member's interests.

What about challenges?

I do think that in 2005, it is difficult for one individual physician to truly excel in all three areas of clinical care, teaching and research.

Please describe your professional interests?

My professional interests are in the area of neonatology; as a neonatologist, I care for sick newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Additionally, my professional interests as pediatric residency program director at Children's Hospital of Iowa at UI Hospitals and Clinics, and as vice chair for education in the Department of Pediatrics – a position I recently assumed – revolve around a commitment to the education of all of our medical students, residents and fellows.

What are some of your outside interests?

My outside interests revolve primarily around being with family. My wife has a very demanding and challenging career as a pediatric critical care physician working in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, with her own clinical demands and active research interests, so the time we spend as a family with our twin five-year-old boys, Andrew and Benjamin, and two-year-old daughter, Isabel, are truly valued times. We all really enjoy spending time outdoors.

Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your professional work?

I think there are two principles that guide me in my professional work. First is a dedication to provide the best clinical care to critically ill newborns to ensure the best possible outcome and support these newborns' families through a tremendously stressful time – to deal with them empathetically and compassionately. Second is a dedication to medical students and pediatricians in training, to ensure that they are trained to be excellent health care providers and advocates for children.

If you could change one thing about the world (or world of medicine), what would it be?

I would work to make sure that every child has adequate health care insurance. The last thing a family needs when going through any stressful illness in their children – or ensuring the ongoing well-being of their children by taking them to health maintenance visits that are so important – is to worry about financial issues related to the health of their children.

What is the biggest change you’ve experienced in your field since you were a medical student?

One of the biggest outcomes in neonatology is the outcome of premature babies born at the edges of viability; the survival rate for babies born 17 weeks prematurely, at 23 weeks gestational age, is now about 70 percent at our institution, with the vast majority of those babies doing wonderfully well.

How do you think these outcomes are made possible?

Outcomes like these – and any others in any field where medical conditions are fragile – are only possible in an environment where physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, nutritionists, pharmacists and the entire health care team works well together with one goal in mind: excellent, compassionate patient care.

What one piece of advice would you give to today’s medical students?

Determine the specialty path that you are interested in and throw your life into that area; practice it with passion and commit yourself to life-long learning.

What emphasis do you place on maintaining a personal life?

Certainly, achieving a balance between your personal and professional life is critically important; we spend a lot of time in our residency program addressing this. However, you have chosen a career in medicine that requires a commitment to delivering excellent care, and with that responsibility should come a dedication to the well being of patients and a dedication to your own life-long learning.

What do you see as “the future” of pediatrics?

The exciting aspect of pediatric medicine is going to be the ability to recognize those children who are at risk for diseases, either as newborns or in later childhood and potentially intervening to prevent these diseases from occurring, or initiating treatment even before the disease actually manifests itself. A renewed commitment to preventive health and advocacy for pediatric patients, too, is certainly an area of active interest among all of us involved in pediatric graduate medical education.

President Skorton named 2005 as the “Year of Public Engagement.” In what ways are you engaged with the greater Iowa public?

As a neonatologist, I serve as a consultant to pediatricians and neonatologists around the whole region who have questions about the care of newborn patients and, in that way, I feel that I help to improve the care of newborn infants. Additionally, I am pleased to have been involved over the last several years in a project that was publicized in one of your recent alumni interviews with Dr. Herman Hein, who started the Statewide Prenatal Care Program. In this role, it has been wonderfully rewarding going out to many hospitals around the state and interacting with health care providers that take care of babies.