Lawrence Boris Slobody, M.D.
from the class of 1976 yearbook
Dr. Lawrence Boris Slobody, M.D. (1910-2001) was a prominent contributor to the study and practice of pediatric medicine throughout his professional career. He used his extensive time and presence within New York Medical College to contribute to the education of pediatric medicine as well as to the betterment of the college.
A portrait of Dr. Lawrence Slobody is currently on display in the boardroom of Sunshine Cottage.
Birth: Jun 24, 1910, New York, New York
Death: April 23, 2001, Springfield, Massachusetts
Education:
At New York Medical College (Faculty):
At New York Medical College (Administrative):
Lawrence Boris Slobody, M.D. (1910-2001), earned his status as a prominent member of the New York Medical College as soon as he began his education at the institution. After earning his M.D. as a member of the class of 1936, he went on to establish himself as a fixture of the college in the many roles he held as a faculty member, chair of various departments, and eventually president of the college.
Dr. Slobody was a man of many qualities and titles, pediatrician and educator being among them. He earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University in 1930, but he did not immediately begin his studies as a medical student. He contracted a severe infection that resulted in a year long hospitalization as well as osteomyelitis. He was able to begin his medical studies in 1932. He worked his way through school while still earning a membership in a local honor society. Later, he graduated second in his class from New York Medical College.
Immediately after his graduation, Dr. Slobody chose to specialize in pediatrics and became a fellow with New York Medical College’s Frederick S. Wheeler Laboratory for Nutritional Research. He published papers and conducted research about Vitamin C and Vitamin C deficiencies before joining the college’s faculty as an Assistant Clinical Instructor of Pediatrics.
Dr. Slobody went on to teach pediatric medicine throughout his career with the New York Medical College, even as he held administrative positions. He also worked as a clinical pediatrician in affiliated hospitals during this time. This included his work as an Attending Pediatrician at Flower and Fifth Avenue Hospital from 1944-1963 and as a Clinical Visiting Pediatrician for Metropolitan Hospital, from 1945-1963. While maintaining these responsibilities, he assumed administrative positions as chair and director of multiple related departments, as Acting Dean of the School of Medicine, as Vice-President of Hospital Affairs, and as President of the New York Medical College.
In the course of his tenure as president of the college, the school’s faculty and clinical facilities expanded significantly, including nearly 20 affiliation contracts with healthcare institutions across New York City, Westchester, and Connecticut. During this time, the college also opened the Office of Community Affairs and the Office of Minority Affairs. New York Medical College was among the first medical schools to introduce such offices.
His research and clinical work was valuable to multiple disciplines of pediatric medicine. Beyond his research on the subject of Vitamin C, he also researched and wrote about the topics of immunologic renal disease, the blood brain barrier and more. At a time when such demographics were understudied and subject to mistreatment, Dr. Slobody worked with intellectually disabled children and infants whose mothers abused substances during the pregnancy. He was amongst the first to advocate that intellectually disabled children could be formally educated and be productive members of society.
Dr. Slobody also wrote multiple books, such as multiple editions of Survey of Clinical Pediatrics. He was a prolific contributor to literature on pediatrics, nutrition, and, in his retirement, art. After retiring, he studied and wrote on gerontology. He earned many accolades, such as being the then youngest person to be elected to the American Pediatric Society and being awarded the New York Medical College Alumni Medal of Honor. His contributions to the study and practice of medicine bolster the significance of his extensive presence in the New York Medical College.
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