Earlier this week Mary and I had the privilege of attending a reception at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The occasion was a thank you for those who contributed to several of the foundations which support the School. The food was good, the wine was fine, but the presentation was outstanding. 
Usually Dr. Jeff Balser, dean of the medical school, talks about what the foundations have done for our local school, the medical students, and especially for the Junior Scientists who are students in the M.D./Ph.H. program. This night the message was broader, global as well as local. He called it a trip around the world.
I’ll mention a few of the highpoints. We met Major General Steve Jones, MD’78, Commanding General for the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School; Chief of the U.S. Army Medical Corps. An alumnus of Vanderbilt Medical School, he spoke for a few minutes of his work in the military to reduce on field casualties. His refreshing words ended with an ovation of gratitude not only for his work and Vandy’s role in it, but also for our men and women who work so hard to defend peace in the world.
Mark Newton, M.D., Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Pediatric Anesthesiologist, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt; Director of the Vanderbilt International Anesthesia program spoke next. He has spent most of the past two decades in Kenya. There he built a hospital and has trained local Kenyans to be para-medical workers. He spends nine months each year in Kenya and the other three at his Alma Mater, Vandy. During his absence from Kenya other Anesthesiologist from Vandy and the USA fill in for him. He has a rotation for Vandy Anesthesia residents as well. I am not sure where the surgeons come from who work there, but I do know some rotate from USA. Our son Brian is a Vanderbilt pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist and spent two weeks there last year. His wife and their three kids went along, all of them were given work to do at the hospital. Nicole spent time in the new born nursery where she bathed babies. She will be starting college this fall and this experience convinced her to study nursing or pre-med!
There were other speakers as well, all Vandy graduates. Julie Thwing, MD’02, leads a programs to combat malaria for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Senegal. She spoke to us via satellite, as did a couple others whose names I unfortunately don’t have. But my favorite presenter was William Walsh, M.D., Chief of Nurseries, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Dr. Walsh, one of the doctors who has made his presence know right here in Nashville, began his presentation talking about recent advances in neonatology. Then he told us about the team of Vandy doctors who were the first in the world to treat spina bifida in utero. Spina bifida, also called “open spine” causes babies to be born with hydrocephalus and paralysis from the waist down. You have most likely read about this surgery, in it surgeons open the mother’s uterus and close the defect in the baby’s spinal membranes and skin. The first baby they operated on is now nine years old. Dr. Walsh showed pictures of her standing by her parents, able to walk, run and dance. What a miracle!
The evening was a tribute to the wonderful work doctors at Vanderbilt Medical Center are doing here and around the world, and a thank you to those who support them. Mary and I are so proud that two of our sons, Brian and Sean, who is the director of pediatric ophthalmology, are a part of this great University. But we also take great pleasure in being able to contribute to this cause. If you don’t have a University on your list of charities, I urge you to find one. The inner gratitude you will feel in making a contribution is life changing. If you want to contribute to Vandy let me recommend the Camby Robinson Society, (http://www.vanderbilthealth.com/giving/38694) they will be grateful for your generosity.