For the past five years, our physiology students have read a book entitled Genetic Rounds: A Doctor’s Life in a Field that Revolutionized Medicine. On Tuesday physiology students in grades 10-12 had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Robert Marion via FaceTime. The book is a collection of stories about some of the patients Dr. Marion has treated over the past 30 years as a clinical pediatric geneticist. The book is written in a manner that you instantly feel connected to each of the patients, and all the while, you are learning. It has long been the focus of conversations and ethical debates in all of my classes. During our interview, students asked thought-provoking questions such as “How does your family provide support as you deal with the emotional stress?”; “How did exposing your personal mistakes throughout the book affect you?”; “How do you determine which disease an individual has?”; and I wanted to know, “What do you hope these students learned from your book?” Besides answering all of these questions and more, Dr. Marion also provided us with inside updates on some of the patients from the book. We learned that the cranially conjoined twins Carl and Clarence just celebrated the 10th anniversary of their separation. “A.C” is the still alive, and he is one of the longest known survivors with a condition called Pfeiffer syndrome, and Alena, one of Dr. Marion’s personal favorite success stories, was adopted from Russia and received life-saving medical attention by Dr. Marion. The experience with Dr. Marion was such an amazing opportunity, and the best part is, he said we can do it again!
Dr. Marion is an internationally recognized pediatric geneticist and the chief of the divisions of genetics and of developmental medicine in pediatrics and professor of pediatrics and obstetrics & gynecology and women’s health at Einstein University in New York. He is also the author of seven books including the award-winning book Genetic Rounds.
