DOCTOR OF THE MONTH
Elliott Vichinsky, MD
From Brooklyn to bedside
A physician's path to becoming Hem/Onc medical director was inspired by '60s idealism.
Elliott P. Vichinsky, MD’s voice still carries the sound of Brooklyn, NY, where he was raised in a four-story apartment building belonging to his grandfather. He fondly remembers the 16 apartments in the building, all filled with members of the tight-knit Vichinsky clan. His father was one of five brothers who worked together in the shipping business.
His father was also a poet, sculptor and inventor, and Dr. Vichinsky absorbed his intensity, work ethic and passion for creativity. His mother made sure those in need were helped in their home, teaching Dr. Vichinsky never to ignore the suffering of others.
Soon his family of five moved to East Meadow, where, even in kindergarten, Dr. Vichinsky impressed his teachers. “He is alert and eager to learn,” read a line on his report card from East Meadow School. “His work is interesting and original in its content.”
Today, as medical director of the Hematology/ Oncology program and Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, Dr. Vichinsky, 59, continues doing impressive work as a researcher and physician.
He sees the healing arts as a higher calling.
“The gift of being a physician is an enormous responsibility,” Dr. Vichinsky told fellow physicians when honored in 2005 with Children’s Hospital’s 49th Bronze Bambino award. “I’ve always seen it as an extreme honor, a spiritual experience.”
He backs his words with action.
Dr. Vichinsky is an expert on genetic blood disorders, primarily thalassemia, sickle cell disease and hemophilia. He has authored and co-authored more than 300 articles in peer-reviewed journals and is editor-in-chief of The Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. He’s been principal investigator on more than 40 major research projects and has given countless presentations around the world about blood disorders.
He diagnoses and treats children with cancer and tumors, helped create the Blood and Marrow Transplant program at Children’s and led the first multi-center studies showing there could be positive outcomes for children with sickle cell anemia.
“I was a product of the ‘60s and I really believed in social justice and change, that society needed to do more, to give back,” said Dr. V, as he’s widely known at Children’s, during a recent interview in his small, cluttered, book-lined office. “I really believe it’s the moral responsibility of members of society to help those in need, to never ignore those less fortunate than yourself. Medicine to me was that opportunity to help others. It was a way to make a difference in the world.”
He attended State University of New York Downstate’s medical school in Brooklyn and, early on, had an interest in the scientific rigors of internal medicine. But then he met Maria Falter, MD, a pediatric hematologist and professor at his medical school.
“Dr. Falter had such a rapport with the children with fatal diseases,” said Dr. V. “She got down and played with them. She changed my life.”
He changed career plans immediately, upsetting his advisor by switching his goal to pediatric hematology. He also accepted Dr. Falter’s invitation to help with her research on sickle cell disease. They became close friends.
“(Dr. Vichinsky) was so compassionate; he didn’t go after the material things a medical career could offer,” said Dr. Falter. “He was very bright; he had an outstanding personality; and he was interested in helping others.”
After Dr. V graduated from medical school, they stayed in touch. When he delivered a research paper in the late ‘70s at a San Francisco meeting of the American Society of Hematology, Dr. Falter flew out from New York to be there.
It was quite a night after the meeting. Because Dr. Vichinsky’s mother was also visiting, he took them both to dinner.
After medical school, Dr. Vichinsky and his wife, Diane, a public interest lawyer, moved to Seattle. He completed his residency at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center, staying on to do a fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and later becoming a senior research fellow at the University of Washington.
In 1979, Bertram H. Lubin, MD, now Children’s senior vice president, research, recruited Dr. Vichinsky. Dr. V, in turn, brought in James Feusner, MD, a friend with whom he’d trained in Seattle. Together they built up Children’s Hematology/ Oncology department; it now has 17 clinicians and scientists.
“Children’s offered me the opportunity to serve a diverse community that was really a microcosm of the world,” said Dr. V. “Working here enabled me to make a difference in a community, to integrate state-of-the-art research and academic inquiry into a complicated community that had social and medical needs.”
As Dr. V took on new roles, he went from mentored to mentoring. He recruited Mark Walters, MD, another Seattle alum, who now heads up the Blood and Marrow Transplant program. Dr. Walters said Dr. Vichinsky taught him how to be a mentor.
“One way to assure that the patients you serve get the care they need is to teach someone else how to do it, or teach people how to do studies that will discover new treatments,” said Dr. Walters. “Elliott’s kind of a model mentor: he’s done all those things. Over the years he’s trained a number of really productive hematologists.”
It’s hard to be a mentor. “You have to selflessly devote your vision to promote the individual who’s in training,” said Dr. Walters. “Dr. Vichinsky puts people first, he puts the mentee’s agenda first.”
Dr. Vichinsky adds a twist. “Mentoring is a two-way street,” he said. “There are a lot of people here who are a lot smarter than I am. I’ve learned a lot from the junior people; it’s enabled me to stay enriched, to learn and continue to grow.”
Dr. V is proud of the fellows he’s helped train: “They’re now experts in their respective fields of hematology/oncology,” he said. Many have joined the staff at Children’s.
Dr. V also praises what he’s learned from the many non-MD clinicians he’s worked with over the years. A nurse practitioner named Judy was one in a long line of nurses and nurse practitioners who taught him. In 1973, Dr. V worked a stint with the New England native, who’d been transplanted to a Papago/Pima Indian reservation in Arizona. Judy asked Dr. V to give the shots because many older Indians she served didn’t want a woman giving them injections.
“They can do most of what you (the physician) can do, and most of the time they can do it better,” said Dr. V. “I didn’t know how to give shots; she had to instruct me.” They bounced around her 100,000-acre territory in a beat-up jeep, her laughter in his ear.
But patients have been his best teachers. “I’ve learned a lot about life from patients,” said Dr. Vichinsky. “I’ve always found patients and parents to be much smarter than people give them credit for.”
Dr. Vichinsky tells a story to illustrate his point: Ten years ago, when bone marrow transplantation was considered controversial therapy for many diseases, many physicians would not offer it to families. Dr. V asked his advisory group of patient family members whether physicians were right to do that.
“‘Look, Dr. V. Your job (as medical experts) is to give us the information,’” he recalled them saying. “‘We can make our own decisions. We just need you to give us the facts. We’re capable of making our own decisions.’”
Dr. Vichinsky agreed. “I’ve always felt that was true. Given the truth and the facts behind it, families have the skills to make the right decisions.”
He said patients have also taught him about living and dying. “I’ve learned that people can adapt to serious illness and handicaps and still maintain joy in life,” said Dr. Vichinsky. “The important thing about a Hem/Onc doctor is to maintain quality of life.”
To help maintain his own quality of life, Dr. V began running marathons 17 years ago. He recently ran the Napa Valley Marathon. It was his slowest marathon, but the most fun.
While his two children aren’t running marathons, they are following in his footsteps, with careers combining healthcare and a passion for service. His daughter coordinates anti-tobacco policy for New York City’s public health department. His son, a senior at Tufts University near Boston, is focusing on education for children with special needs.
His kids and his patients, he said, have taught him that there are more important things than one’s personal goals. Quietly he said, “My family is the most important thing.”
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