ASH Clinical News ACN_4.13_full issue_Web | Page 24

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