$29.95 $25.00
Special price for Hardcover – Limited time! (Makes a great gift)
“A portion of the sale of every book is donated to each of Dr. B.’s Alma Maters: Hampton University and Meharry Medical College.”
**Thank you again to those whose giving after Dr. B.’s Passing helped establish a Memorial Scholarship at Hampton University in the name of Dr. Frederick Douglas Burroughs!
In Dr. B.’s Words:
This journey began in New Jersey, where I was born, through college at Hampton Institute, in Virginia and in Mainz, Germany, where I served my country in the United States Army. As a young man, husband, and father, I entered Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee for medical school. After an internship and residency, I arrived at my final destination, Raleigh, North Carolina, and began a career as a pediatrician. In the waning years of my practice, from time to time, I would encounter patient after patient, and parent after parent who had been recipients of services I rendered, and colleague upon colleague, as observers of my life from various vantage points, all of whom would inquire, “When are you going to write a book about your life in medicine?”
The pathways traveled and doors opened by numerous African American professionals preceding me have inspired me to tell my story in hopes of encouraging some youngster aspiring to a career in medicine. I hope to impress upon them that they should not lose sight of their goals even when encountering seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Responding to the invitation to write this book, “I finally embarked on defining pathways along my journey in medicine (as best I could) that may serve as a catalyst for that aspiring, doubting youngster who wants to be a doctor.”
Get the eBook (with interactive footnotes) for any device here: (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1HJ9A2)
One Long-time Colleague’s Perspectives on Dr. B. and His Book
Fresh from my US Army time in Stuttgart, Germany, my father, a Raleigh pediatrician since 1954 left his practice to join with me in 1982, introduced me to ”one of my best friends and tremendous pediatrician, Fred Burroughs.” Little did I understand at that meeting this man would have such an impact on me professionally and personally. I hate to use the term African American, because where Fred and I met we only saw each other’s heart for helping others; yet it is profoundly important to understand our ability to “cross over” the multiple barriers. We not only developed a great practice, but through his guidance blasted through the issues of the underprivileged, helping us all to realize it is never the child’s issue, only ours. Through Dr. Frank Poole (my father) and Dr. Fred, Growing Child Pediatrics became the leader in services to a population that begs for guidance and support, responding with amazing triumphs.
To understand the impact of Dr. Fred, is really to understand the impact of medical care in the African American community through many, many years. He was it, and his patients have come to him as children living in poverty, and through his guidance have left as college graduates. Every day I was privy to stories of a grandmother or mother who had seen him that day, who were his patients 20-40 years previously, and how they still remain loyal to his love and affection shown. Nothing would give him greater joy than holding the baby of one of the mothers who had been one of his babies!
As a physician, we are trained to care for patients, yet in any walk in life, there are those who go above, not out of duty, but out of love for their fellow traveler on earth. Fred knows that God needs him to be His feet, His hands, and His voice on earth. It was not uncommon to run into Fred at 2 am in the hospital halls, then again doing rounds at 0730, and knowing he had a full patient load that day. Yes I was there to see that, but I had partners to share the load, Fred would do it again the next and everyday when he was in solo practice. Having him join with me and our team was both an honor and thrill for me.
Now not everything was rosy. Prior to joining me, when we were examining our patients in the nursery, he was always “bragging” about “his” patients being bigger than mine! Also, one day I did get quite upset with Fred. He had called to tell me that he was coughing a little bit and might have to go to the doctor himself that afternoon, and not be able to see patients. Working with him I quickly took out my stethoscope to listen to his lungs, knowing he was just complaining! He was in congestive heart failure, and was worried about taking time off!! When they put the pacemaker in him, he again “complained” he might be late to the office!! This was the dedication to his job and to his patients that is rarely seen today.
I am proud to know Fred, and I am proud to be included in his circle of friends. He is both a friend, a father figure, a mentor, a role model, and a tremendous pediatrician. Most of all, Fred is a strong family man, loving husband, and an emissary from God. Whatever you take from his autobiography, realize that he never would tire in the caring for others. His trips were sandwiched around his 24/7 medical practice and the love of his patients.
-Jim Poole, MD, FAAP Growing Child Pediatrics (2016)
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