Jordan Ruboy, MD, a pediatrician at Massachusetts General Hospital for 50 years and chief of Pediatrics at Concord’s Emerson Hospital, embodied compassionate care, even making “old-fashioned” house calls to check on sick children and reassure their anxious parents.
His husband, Richard Milstein Esq., however, witnessed the emotional toll it took on Dr. Ruboy in the instances he had to share a terminal or life-threatening diagnosis with the parents of young children. When Dr. Ruboy died in 2013, Richard decided to honor him by establishing the Jordan S. Ruboy, MD, Compassionate Care Endowed Fund for MassGeneral Hospital for Children.
The fund helps support the personal and professional growth of physicians-in-training through a pilot program. Residents convene once a month, and for three facilitated hours, share with each other what it is like to lose a patient or how to communicate in difficult situations, such as telling parents that their child has cancer.
In addition, last year the Jordan S. Ruboy Memorial Lecture series on compassionate care topics was launched. While up-and-coming physicians can no longer learn directly from Dr. Ruboy’s example and wealth of experience, they can build the skills necessary to comfort children and their families as he would have.
