Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis called medicine a “learned profession; a profession responsible for a body of knowledge, a meaningful amount of which must be gained from experience (1).” In this construct, experience must have currency. Moreover, the profession is responsible for both advancing and communicating the knowledge to the next generation. Intrinsic to pediatrics is a code of ethics that entails service to others, articulating and enforcing standards, and promoting a culture that values service above reward. This social contract, between society and medicine, confers both respect and autonomy to medicine. In no small part, our collective mindfulness of this contract has enabled pediatrics to enjoy a relatively generous amount of both respect and autonomy, even in the present challenging times.

As pediatricians, we have chosen to work in one way or another, on behalf of child health and welfare. Our work grants us the privilege and joy of being gifted with a precious and sometimes fragile trust. Each of us, in our own way, is ennobled by striving to be a bit better tomorrow than we are today. Over many years, as our reach exceeds our grasp, the humanity of those engaged in academic pediatrics is heightened. Although the merits and critical determinants of, as well as the impediments to, the success of an academic pediatrician are straight forward, the question remains as to how might these goals best be accomplished?

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