Ain discusses overcoming disease

Students and faculty gathered in Mudd Hall last Tuesday to hear Dr. Michael Ain, Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery and Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, give a lecture entitled "To Dare Mighty Things." The lecture focused on Ain's own experience of overcoming obstacles as a victim of achondroplasia, an abnormal development of cartilage in which the person has an average size trunk, but shorter than average limbs. In his lecture, Ain focused on the importance of overcoming challenges, relating his own experiences in the medical world and discussing the demands that face students entering the medical profession.

Ain opened his lecture by reading a poem entitled "You are Special," stressing the importance of individuality and uniqueness among human beings. His lecture focused on the strength of the individual in overcoming personal obstacles.

In recounting his childhood, Ain recalled his parents, who encouraged him to always work hard and strive towards his goals

"They never said I couldn't accomplish something because of my stature," he said.

As a young adult, Ain competed as a wrestler and baseball player at Andover Academy. In high school, he was ranked third in New England for his wrestling weight class. "I was just another kid," he said.

Ain attended Brown University, where he conducted research, played baseball and served as an officer in his fraternity. Upon graduating Brown, Ain applied to 30 medical schools. At this juncture in his life, he was met repeatedly with prejudice and discrimination. Ain was told that his stature prohibited him from becoming a doctor, and that he would never be able to pursue medicine as a profession.

Recalling an interview at the University of Pennsylvania, Ain remembered an admissions officer telling him he would never physically be capable of being a doctor and that his stature would never allow him to gain the respect of his patients. At an interview in Buffalo, Ain was asked if he preferred to be called a midget.

After being rejected at all the medical schools he applied for, Ain returned to Albany, but remained optimistic about his future. With a wry smile, he said, "I took some grad courses, killed a couple of turtles and reapplied."

Today Ain is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins and works as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, dealing with disorders in the lower extremities, hips and spine as well as taking care of patients with skeletal dysplasia, who constitute 25 percent of his practice. Ain also conducts research at Johns Hopkins on achondroplasia, his own disorder.

In choosing his field of medicine, Ain said, "I didn't go into medicine to take care of little people."

He recalled an experience during his fourth year of residency, in which he read a newspaper article about a family in South Carolina whose daughter had achondroplasia. In the article, the father recounted his own difficulty in accepting his daughter's disorder.

The father recalled a conversation that changed his perspective: Sitting in a bar one evening, the father ran into a friend who knew a pediatric resident that had struggled with achondroplasia. Upon hearing about this resident's success in getting into medical school and pursuing orthopedic surgery, the father realized that even with her disability, his daughter could accomplish anything she wanted. After reading the article, Ain realized that the pediatric resident in the story was himself, and that through his own experience, he had touched this family that was dealing with the same problems he had struggled to overcome. "I felt that was my calling," Ain said.

Although Ain feels that he can relate to his patients on a certain level, he said that he focuses on improving the health of his patients, rather than empathizing with them on a personal level.

"You're there to do a job," he said, "and that's to help them get better."

As a physician, Ain treats patients of all types, from pre-natal cases to fully grown adults. He stressed the importance of practical awareness in the field of medicine.

"The thing about being a good surgeon is not being brilliant. It is knowing what you want to accomplish and being able to anticipate problems."

Though he often pulls 16 hour days, Ain said that he always tries to remain sympathetic towards his patients. He emphasized the importance of treating patients as human beings.

"Unfortunately, there are lots of doctors out there who look at their patients as cases," he said. "The top students aren't necessarily the best people."

In the orthopedic department at Hopkins, Ain said that they are "actively trying to choose people who are sensitive and can do the job."

Among the characteristics they look for in students are active volunteerism, a sense of genuine empathy and compassion.

As Ain discussed the personal obstacles he has faced in the past, he maintained a constructive and optimistic attitude about both his past and present experiences. When asked about his role within the disabled community, Ain responded by asking "What is a disability? It is something that's in your life that you let win."

He emphasized that being small hasn't stopped him from doing anything, even going to medical school and becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

"I have the greatest job in the world," he said. "I can touch people in a way that nobody else can."

Ain's lecture is part of the Voyage and Discovery lecture series, which will conclude on March 5 in Mudd Hall with a lecture by Dr. John Gearhart entitled "An Almost True Tale of the First Derivation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells.