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Although the little black leather doctor bag might have gone the way of house calls, its potency as a metaphor for healing people remains.
As a young girl, says Dr. Jeanne M. Marconi, I was given a plastic doctor kit, which had so many intriguing little gadgets. She brought the toy along when her mother took her for an annual checkup. While there, she remembers her amused pediatrician seeing it and telling her, Maybe you will have a real doctor kit someday.
Her experience at the pediatricians office, however, was not a cheery one, as the doctor also treated patients with serious problems, such blood disorders and cancer. That his office was less than child-oriented, she says, stuck with her.
But it turns out the toy was transformative, says Marconi, now a pediatrician and managing partner at the Center for Advanced Pediatrics, with offices in Darien and Norwalk, Conn. Marconi has been working with her young patients at the center for nearly 20 years.
Although the notion of medicine might have been rooted in make believe, it set the tone for her future in a real way. Some years after she received that toy doctor bag as a gift, she volunteered as a candy striper at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, N.Y. Assigned to the pediatric ward, she spent a good deal of time reading to and playing with children. This, she says, informed her desire to take care of them.
The toy doctor kits have significance to her interaction with children at her practice today. It is not uncommon, says Marconi, for her to dispense medical necessities to her patients to fill their own toy bags. Among them are cotton balls, tongue depressors and paper measuring tapes and paper gowns.
But in addition to easing their fears of doctor visits, she admits her motivation for dispensing the parting gifts might have broader significance. Maybe these children can go home and have dreams of becoming a doctor, says Marconi.
While they are children, however, Marconi wants their experiences visiting doctors to be positive. Once I became a doctor, she says, I envisioned a practice that was a happy place for children and their families to come.
Marconi, who grew up in Westchester County, says her practice serves not only young children but the community as well. We have baby classes, a breastfeeding center, moms' groups, an asthma program, a full-time nutritionist and in-house behavioral and mental health services.
The center also provides family travel medicine and concussion centers, as well as a pediatric endocrinologist. Additionally, there is an in-house urgent care center centered on children and adolescents. This service, she says, helps families avoid unnecessary emergency room visits.
Years ago, recalls Marconi, her friends mother, Dolores, frequently "used the Merck Manual to diagnose everyone. As a humorous gesture, Marconi gave Dolores her toy medical kit so Dolores could more effectively diagnose her family and friends.
But when Marconi graduated from medical school, Dolores gift-wrapped the kit and presented to her. I have a special place in my heart, Dr. Marconi says, For doctor kits. Both make believe and real.
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