UP FRONT
Pulling Back the Curtain: Richard W. Childs, MD
Do you have any advice for
trainees about dealing with
disappointments in their careers?
My advice is to find a good mentor who
can provide perspective. Also, be open to
the constructive criticism and feedback
they offer. When you are young in your
career, it’s easy to think that you have
everything figured out and that there is
only one path to take. But you quickly
will find that there are many avenues
available to you in reaching your goal.
The more willing you are to solicit feed-
back and input from others, the better off
you’ll be for it – and the more successful
you will be.
I would also emphasize finding those
mentors as early as possible. When
I was a resident at the University of
Florida, I was fortunate to work with
Craig Kitchens, MD, and Richard
Lottenberg, MD, two hematologists
whose excellent clinical skills and
diagnostic abilities inspired me. Each
took me under his wing and continue to
mentor me to this day.
Their advice and encouragement
motivated me to avoid the path of least
resistance. Instead, they propelled me to
pursue high-risk, high-reward research
that truly would make a difference in how
we practice medicine and in our patients’
lives.
Many times, I wanted to quit in the
face of challenges. That’s when they
would tell me, “Stick with what you’re
doing. Don’t give up on your projects.”
The research that took 20 years to move
from the bench to the clinic would not
have happened without their guidance
and mentorship.
No matter how strong-willed you are,
no matter how creative you are, you need
to have the perspective of your mentor
from a different angle. So, in my role now,
I try to pay that forward and serve as the
mentor for our fellows and junior faculty.
After completing fellowships in
oncology and hematology at the
22
ASH Clinical News
National Cancer Institute and the
National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute, you became an active
duty officer in the Commissioned
Corps. Can you explain what you
do in that role?
I am incredibly honored to serve in the
Commissioned Corps since 1995 and to
have since become a rear admiral. The
Commission Corps is one of seven uni-
formed services of the U.S. government,
so I get to wear the uniform to work
every day.
I am dedicated to the mission of the
Commissioned Corps to advance public
health in the United States through my
role as a physician researcher. I also had
the opportunity to serve as the chief
medical officer on a Commissioned
Corps deployment team to West Africa
during the Ebola crisis response in 2014
and 2015. As the Chief Medical Officer
of this mission, which was ordered by
President Barack Obama, I led a group
of health-care professionals who were
charged with caring for patients infected
with the Ebola virus and helping to con-
tain the virus and prevent it from coming
to the U.S. That mission was incredibly
successful, and our efforts contributed
to bringing about the conclusion of that
outbreak in West Africa.
At the time, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention projected that
the number of cases of Ebola virus could
jump to more than one million if it were
not contained quickly. Ultimately, there
were approximately 30,000 total cases
– substantially lower than the early pre-
dictions. We were able to pull many sick
patients through who I’m sure would
not have survived without our team’s
presence in Liberia. Being part of that
great team working on such a dangerous
and important mission was an amazing
experience.
I also spend a substantial amount of
my time serving in the role of Assistant
U.S. Surgeon General, supporting the
efforts of the U.S. Public Health Service
to protect and promote the health and
safety of our nation.
What is your biggest pet peeve?
To have a high-reliability operation, you
need reliable people, so my biggest pet
peeve is when someone promises to do
something and then doesn’t. If you’re not
sure that you can do something, make
that clear. However, once you tell me
you’re going to do something, my ex-
pectation is that it will get done. I don’t
expect that you won’t face hurdles and
difficulties, so be upfront about those
and we can work through the problems
together.
What do you enjoy doing when
you are not working?
I actually have a lot of hobbies. I’m an
avid bicyclist, riding my road bike five
or six times a week. I would venture to
say that I’m addicted to riding my bike.
I started riding fewer than four years
ago, so it’s a recent addiction, but I have
already ridden across the state of Iowa
in a 500-mile bike ride called RAGBRAI
(The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride
Across Iowa) in 2015.
Cycling is one of my great passions,
but I also am an avid boater. I like to sail,
fish, and go crabbing on the Chesapeake
Bay. Flying remote-controlled airplanes is
another hobby I’ve picked up.
If you could have dinner with any
person from history, who would
it be and what would you ask him
or her?
I probably have a different answer to
this question depending on what time of
day you ask me. But I would say General
George S. Patton would be an amazing
guest.
I’ve read quite a bit about him and
found him to be an incredibly interesting
historical figure. He always believed that
he was created for the singular purpose
of fighting and beating the Germans in
World War II. You can formulate all the
Dr. Childs speaking at NIH earlier this year (top left), with
members of the West Africa Ebola Response team (top
right), and working in Liberia to help contain the Ebola
outbreak (bottom right).
plans in the world, but the execution is
what counts; he was a master of execut-
ing plans. The odds were stacked against
him and his troops on many occasions;
nevertheless, he found innovative ways
to adapt and improvise and, ultimately,
conquer the enemy.
There is much to learn from a person
like him about overcoming obstacles
– whether they’re scientific difficulties
that come up in the lab or budgetary
constraints preventing you from advan-
cing your research. I would love to sit
down and talk with Gen. Patton about
how he tackled seemingly insurmountable
obstacles. ●
November 2018