National Doctors' Day: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital honors physicians and staff

As physicians nationwide are acknowledged for their talent, sacrifice and courage on National Doctors' Day, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital honors its more than 230 staff and consulting physicians who strive to fulfill the hospital's mission each day.

The hospital's first physician and medical director, Donald Pinkel, M.D., laid the foundation for St. Jude's reputation as a world-class treatment and research institution. Today, the St. Jude staff and consulting physicians continue his legacy, earning top honors and national recognition for their innovative approaches to treating children with devastating diseases.

"Families have entrusted their children's care to our physicians since the birth of this institution, and we never lose sight of this tremendous responsibility," said Joseph Laver, M.D., clinical director and executive vice president at St. Jude. "When we recruit physicians to come to work for St. Jude, we look for excellence in their respective areas. This is essential in an environment such as St. Jude because of the rare diseases that we treat and the highly specialized competencies required to treat them."

The close working relationship between St. Jude scientists and physicians leads to improved therapies at the bedside. This bench-to-bedside process instills courage and confidence in St. Jude patients and families who consider their physicians as emissaries of hope.

"I definitely want to go into pediatric oncology, and I only hope to be as amazing as Dr. John Sandlund," said St. Jude patient Ciera Blackburn. "I believe that everything happens for a reason. I personally believe that my reason for being diagnosed with cancer is to meet Dr. Sandlund and realize that this is what I need to do with my life."

In a lighthearted tradition each year, St. Jude patients and staff celebrate the hospital's physicians with an ice cream social.

"It's a way we can show our appreciation for all the hard work our physicians do," said Jane Raymond, director of the Managed Care department that coordinates the festivities. "It's also an informal and non-medical way of interacting with the physicians and the patients. Working in a hospital is not an easy job, and the work that we do is so important at St. Jude."

The first Doctors' Day observance was March 30, 1933, in Winder, Ga., on the anniversary of the first use of general anesthetic in surgery. The United States House of Representatives adopted a resolution commemorating Doctors' Day on March 30, 1958. In 1990, legislation was introduced into the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate to establish a National Doctors, Day. The first National Doctors' Day was celebrated in 1991. The red carnation has become the symbol of Doctors, Day because it denotes the qualities of love, charity, sacrifice, bravery and courage.