From the introduction to his newest book, The Photographic Atlas of Pediatric Diagnosis and Disorders (Published July 2013 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins) ********************
My journey here---to this day and this moment---is nothing short of miraculous. I was born to a 15-year old mother whose labor was attended by an illiterate midwife in a small port city in the Southern Iran of the early 1930's.
Growing up, I survived a virtual catalog of childhood diseases: measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, typhoid fever, whooping cough, dysentery (three times) ascariasis, tuberculosis and malaria (a disease that, to this day, takes one million lives per year...most of them children). I survived, but two of my siblings were less fortunate and succumbed to measles and tetanus.
Since then, over the past six decades as a pediatrician and having practiced during that time on three continents, I have seen countless other youngsters suffering from those same diseases. As a young physician, I saw once-lively toddlers suddenly unable to walk due to polio. I saw children so malnourished that they no longer looked like children at all but like the skeletal remains of prisoners of war. I saw almost 1,000 infants with tetanus, most of whom died. I had to tell countless anguished parents that their babies had departed due to conditions that I know now and knew then, might have been easily managed or prevented even, through timely access to a doctor, education and immunizations. And I was powerless in the face of their tears.
In 1979, when turmoil in our homeland led us to flee to America, truly, that a "mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning and her name (Mother of Exiles) embraced us in every conceivable way. Back then, it was our dream...and a sweet one...to send our children to those famed American universities. That dream came true and all four of our children graduated from among the best institutions of this wonderful land. Today, as grown women and men, they serve their country and communities, two of them as pediatricians and co-authors here.
In my career, I feel blessed to have realized my goals. Over 60 years after starting medical school, I believe what I believed then: that there is no higher calling than that of a doctor. In medical school and residency, I grew to consider that to be truest in service to those most vulnerable amongst us, our children. And I began to document the most interesting disease states and patient cases through another passion of mine, photography. Perhaps it can be said that photographic atlas of pediatrics that you hold in your hands is the photo album of my career.
Today, three continents and six decades (and thousands of patients) later, I am a thankful man who wishes each one of you scholars the same satisfaction and joy throughout your clinical careers and lives.