2003 Job Lewis Smith award acceptance address: achieving the unfinished agenda through public-private partnerships.

Abstract

It is indeed an honor to receive the Dr Job Lewis Smith award from the Community Pediatrics Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). My initial reaction was one of disbelief. How could a federal bureaucrat, with a lifelong professional career in public health, qualify for an award based on Dr Smith’s long-time commitment to “hands on” services in community pediatrics in New York City in the 1800s? Although most of my professional career has not found me in either small or truly rural communities, my roots are clearly there. I grew up in a small rural community in Western Canada, and I began my public health career in the MCH clinics in what was then a rural community in Southern Maryland. I served for 15 years in urban Washington, DC, starting in MCH clinics in the year of the “I have a dream” speech and march on Washington, in the midst of the civil rights movement and at a time of considerable urban unrest. I spent 2 years directing the MCH programs in Hawaii and learned the beauty of the island culture based on family and community, so my life experiences have given me a strong commitment to AAP’s recognition that the health of children must be addressed in the context of the family and the community environment in which they live. In preparing for this address, I learned a great deal about Dr Job Smith’s years of service to children in New York City, and I also learned that his brother Stephen was a founder of the APHA in 1872 and that the 2 brothers championed the benefits of collaboration between public health and community pediatrics. It seemed to me that my receipt of this award reflects that early collaboration since that has been my focus for … Reprint requests to (M.M.) 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 18A27, Parklawn Bldg, Rockville, MD 20857. E-mail: mmcpherson{at}hrsa.gov