Road to Becoming a Doctor
Jonas Salk planned to study law in college, but his mother persuaded him to study medicine. Earning his bachelor's degree in 1934 from City College of New York, he entered the New York University School of Medicine, where he graduated in 1939. Following graduation, he served as a physician at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Soon, Dr. Salk was given the opportunity to spend several months researching influenza at the University of Michigan with his mentor Dr. Thomas Francis Jr. Unorthodox for the times, Francis and Salk created the first influenza vaccine using killed-virus. In 1947, Dr. Salk took a position at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as director of the Virus Research Laboratory and began his polio research.
Beliefs and Ideologies
Dr. Jonas Salk, a quiet man, led an exemplary life of virtue. He desired neither the riches nor the fame for creating the polio vaccine. Overcoming objections from colleagues, he had one motive: to help make the world safer.
On success. During an interview, a lady asked Dr. Salk if he didn't feel like a writer with a successful first novel published -- afraid he could never do it again. Salk replied,"I don't want to go from one crest to another. And science isn't like novel-writing. To a scientist, fame is neither an end nor even a means to an end. Do you recall what Emerson said? The reward of a thing well done is to have done it."
~ New York Times July 17, 1955 |
American Academy of Achievement
On criticism. How did the criticism affect you personally? "I just plowed on. Hurt? That's one thing. Being deterred is another thing. And so, while we prefer to have an open path, one thing you learn in life is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. There's no way that everyone is going to agree and particularly if you go against the main stream."
~ Dr. Jonas Salk |
"My father always believed that good things would prevail, especially if one worked hard for them. He was admired and loved by patients, friends, and co-workers for his gentleness and grace. He was a highly moral man and held tenaciously to ideas and concepts that he believed to be correct, even in the face of opposition."
~ Darrell Salk (Jonas Salk's son)
~ Darrell Salk (Jonas Salk's son)