Teaching and Trailblazing
Mary Ellen Avery's legacy is vast, not only through the hundreds of thousands of premature babies who have survived because of her surfactant discovery, but also through the many pediatricians, researchers, department chairs, and others who once trained under her.
In her draft for a talk called "On Teaching" (at right), Avery summarizes her thoughts:
"As I reread these notes, the word that recurs most often is sharing. I could add that a corollary of sharing is caring. Teaching is a form of giving to those who you care about. That produces the environment that attracts good students, and makes teachers ever better because each gives to the other. And, I should add, I believe it optimizes patient care."
