Bartholome Lecture

Today we had the opportunity, at the University of Kansas Medical Center, to remember and honor one of our own - Dr. William (Bill) Bartholome, who died at the age of 54 of esophageal cancer.  To say that Bill's contributions to the field of pediatric ethics were significant would be an understatement, for sure. At today's Bartholome Ethics Conference, two dynamic pediatric ethicists, Dr. John Lantos and Dr. Chris Feudtner, gave presentations that would have surely made Bill proud.  

Our institution was the first in the nation to have a pediatric patient rights document; because of Bill.  Soon, pediatric hospitals and units across the country were boasting new pediatric patient rights documents; again, because of Bill.  In the mid-1980s, the first time I did a literature search on an ethics topic, most of the references I found were those of Bill Bartholome.  He wrote articles, gave lectures, and taught students, residents and faculty that pediatric patients were individuals with developing decision making capacity and, as a result, that they should have a voice in their health care decisions. 

In the mid-1980s, this was a rather shocking perspective.  Prior to that time, parents had been the sole decision maker for their child and, legally, continue to be.  But Bill was charting the course for ethical decision making.  He was teaching us about what we should do and how we ought to treat children.

I was relatively new in my role as the school teacher and when I received a faculty appointment, from the Chief of Staff, to the Pediatric Ethics Committee, I thought I was pretty hot stuff!  What I did not realize, at the time, was that I was about to have an opportunity that most would covet - the chance to learn from the master!

Maybe it was Bill's charisma.  Or, maybe it was that this was heady stuff - a new direction in pediatric care.  Or, just maybe it was that we knew we were setting the bar for how all children would receive health care in the future.  Whatever it was, we soared to new heights on our pediatric ethics committee.  We created pediatric patient rights booklets and we developed training materials and a schedule to follow as we set out to first train the providers in our institution; then the world!

It was touching today to see how many of Bill Bartholme's followers came out to honor him.  There were 5 members of Bill's family, and several other family members who sent their well wishes.  There were medical students who had heard of him and faculty who had known him.  And, there were 'new believers' who listened attentively to the lessons Bill had taught us some 25 years ago, and listened as attentively now as we had then.

Bill was a bit magical, and so were John and Chris today.  Their presentations built upon those things that we had learned years ago and called upon us to do more; do better.  We must continue to advocate for the smallest and youngest of patients, who may or many not be able to advocate for themselves.

I'm ready!