Maggie Jones, MD, wins Schaengold Award
Third-year resident Maggie Jones, MD, finds a lot to be inspired about during her weekly continuity clinic in the Pediatric Primary Care Center at Burnet Campus. Mainly, she’s impressed by all the things families do to keep their kids healthy.
“They face so many challenges,” she explained, “and that just ignites a fire in me to help change things, to push for policies that will make life easier and better for our patients.”
Jones will receive the Robert Schaengold Award at the Cincinnati Pediatric Society’s annual Founder’s Award Ceremony and Dinner on November 17. The award honors a third-year resident who has shown dedication to the care of the underserved.
The Cincinnati native knew early on that she wanted to be a pediatrician. She earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Loyola University in Chicago, then returned home to get her MD at the UC College of Medicine.
“The training in music prepared me well for medicine. Both are a balance of discipline and technicality with art and interpretation,” she said. “You have to balance the science with the human aspect.”
The human aspect is something at which Jones is particularly good.
“My favorite thing is to sit down and have conversations with families,” she said.
Jones recalled a mother who brought her four children along for a well-child check. It was clear, with all of their energy and activity, that the mom had her hands full.
“As we talked, I learned that she was also dealing with food insecurity and a lack of resources to take care of her kids. I was able to make a difference for her by listening to her concerns and offering diapers, formula and a bag of food from our food pantry. She just lit up with relief to have one less thing on her giant list to worry about.”
Last year Jones and a colleague started an advocacy interest group for the residents. They’ve organized lectures, featuring community and hospital pediatricians, to learn how to be good advocates. They’ve also worked with different legislators on issues that affect child health and promoted civic engagement by holding voter registration drives for residents and families.
“It is so important for doctors to use their platform to speak up on issues that matter to patients. I truly believe we have a responsibility to help legislators understand the reality families experience and the true health implications a lot of social policies have,” she said.
Cincinnati Children’s will benefit from Jones’ passion and commitment a while longer. She’ll be staying on as a chief resident next year. Then she hopes to practice primary care pediatrics, with a research or academic component.
“Receiving the Schaengold Award feels like a validation of my work,” she said. “It represents the values that are most important to me and why I wanted to go into medicine in the first place.”
