The Pure Pleasure of the Process: Reflections of a General Pediatric Researcher

Thank you, members of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, for bestowing this honor upon me. I cannot begin to acknowledge all of those who have contributed to this award and own a claim to a piece of it, but I also cannot avoid thanking those who have been most important to the work that led to it.

First and foremost are my wife and our children. For most generalists involved in research, who do not have large blocks of time protected from clinical or educational responsibilities, much of their writing, and much of writing is rewriting and rewriting and becoming immersed in the process, often to the exclusion of other stimuli, much of this writing occurs evenings and weekends, and our families must tolerate and accommodate to this. I can not thank my family enough.

Next are my mentors, without whom my career would have gone in a very different direction. The importance of mentors has been recognized since antiquity. Mentor is the name of Odysseus' best friend, in whose care he leaves his only son for 20 years when he goes off to fight in the Trojan War and struggles to get home again. This, from Homer'sOdyssey,¹ the second oldest book in western civilization. At a time when diminishing numbers of trainees are choosing academic careers, the importance of mentors to academic medicine can not be overstated. I have been privileged to have a significant number of role models and mentors both early in and throughout my career. Three stand out among the many for me—Frank Oski, who picked me out as an intern, offered me inspiration and opportunity, and changed my life forever; Bob Haggerty, who introduced me as a fellow of his to the boundary world of pediatrics, public health, and the behavioral sciences—a place I …