Edyth H. Schoenrich
M.D., M.P.H.
MSA SC 3520-14382
Biography:
Coordinating flexible public health graduate programs for working
health professionals is just one example of the many endeavors Dr.
Edyth H. Schoenrich has undertaken in her sixty year career.
Education has been, and continues to be, one of the benchmarks of Dr.
Schoenrich's life, and her long tenure with The Johns Hopkins
University
attests to that fact. Throughout her various professions over the
years, which include clinician, clinical research scientist, public
health administrator, faculty member, and academic advisor, Schoenrich
has never wavered from her commitment to the health care field and
educating future generations. Her drive and unending passion for
medicine, health, and learning are testament to her "full speed ahead"
attitude, and as Sara Engram, writing for the Duke University Magazine, stated in
2003, "At eighty-three, she [Schoenrich] finds that the word
'retirement' has yet to enter her vocabulary."1
Dr. Edyth Hull Schoenrich was
born on September 9, 1919, in Cleveland, Ohio. Her parents, Edwin
John and Maud Mabel Kelly encouraged their daughter to pursue her
education. Her interest in medicine and science could be seen at
an early age, when as a sixth-grader in Miss Hyde's nature-science
classroom she marveled at the wonders of tadpoles growing into frogs
and seeds evolving into sprouts.2
After graduating high school, Schoenrich entered Duke University in
1937
full of excitement to pursue her interests and further her
education. She received her BA from the University in 1941 and
quickly enrolled at the University of Chicago, where she decided to
pursue her master's degree in psychology. It was
here that she met her husband, Carlos Schoenrich, who was a doctoral
candidate in the same program. They married in 1942 and had two
children, Lola and Olaf.3
Edyth Schoenrich applied to the medical school at the University of
Chicago, a path rarely taken by women at that time. When
reflecting about this period in her life, Schoenrich stated, "It's not
always a disadvantage to be a member of a minority group. When I
went to medical school, there were only three women in [my] class of
75. One time, a professor asked a trick question and I gave the
answer. From then on, faculty would pass me in the hall and say,
'You must be the medical student who knew the answer to Dr. So-and-So's
trick question.' If one of the men had done it, they wouldn't
have noticed."4
She earned her M.D. from the University of Chicago School of Medicine
in 1947.
After
graduation, the Schoenrichs moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and
established their new careers. Carlos began a distinguished
career in psychology and Edyth began her residency at Johns Hopkins
Hospital. It was at this time that her long career with The Johns
Hopkins University began. While at Johns Hopkins Hospital
Schoenrich worked first as an intern from 1948 to 1949. As time
went on she quickly moved up the ladder to assistant resident in
medicine,
from 1949 to 1950; fellow medicine, from 1950 to 1951; and finally as
chief resident of the private wards from 1951 to 1952.
Her status as chief resident was rare for women at that time, so
it was, in many ways, a pioneering step for women professionals.
With all her accomplisments, however, Dr. Schoenrich was not a stranger
to sex discrimination in her field. Describing one such case of
discrimination, she states, "In the 60s I was up for a promotion, a
very good post. Then one of the doctors who would have made the
decision told me, in essence, that I had all the qualifications except
one--I was not a man. I was hurt, but mostly I was very
angry. Later, though, it led to a whole new direction in my
career and I've gotten philosophical about that. The key to
getting through this life is to be able to take something that looks
like a disaster and make something positive out of it."5 She also worked at the Baltimore City Hospital
as the assistant chief
and acting chief of the department for chronic and community medicine
from 1963 to 1966.6
Dr. Schoenrich specialized in internal medicine and holds post-doctoral
fellowships in oncology and hematology.
Although
Edyth Schoenrich enjoyed working in clinical practice and found it
rewarding, she opted for a slight career change. Schoenrich found
that "after her children were born, she no longer seemed to need the
emotional charge that comes when a patient grabs your hand and says,
'You saved my life.' "7
In 1966, she began working with the Maryland State Department of Health
and Mental Hygiene, serving as director of services to chronically ill
and aging patients. This position enabled her to be in charge of
all adult preventative services in Maryland, including blood pressure,
diabetes, truberculosis, cancer, and kidney diseases.8
This line of work appealed to Schoenrich because she had been dismayed
at the number of seriously ill patients with preventable diseases who
were admitted to the Johns Hopkins Hospital, therefore, her services
with the Department of Health would enable her to learn more about
preventative medicine and public health. In 1969, she entered the
Bloomberg School at Johns Hopkins and earned her Master's Degree in
Public Health in 1971. Also, during her
years with the Department of Health, Schoenrich was the director of two
tuberculosis hospitals and three chronic disease rehabilitation
hospitals operated by the State of Maryland.9
In
1974, the Bloomberg School of Public Health offered Schoenrich a
professorship, which she eagerly accepted. From 1974 to 1977, she
was also the director of the Division of Public Health Administration,
and was the senior associate dean of the school from 1977 to 1986.10
Schoenrich spent these years educating students and teaching courses in
health policy and management. Through her professorship Dr.
Schoenrich has been a trailblazer in bringing a community-health
perspective to medicine and a clinical perspective to public health.11
Beginning in 1986, Schoenrich was approached by the Bloomberg School to
begin adapting the public health courses for full-time professionals
interested in obtaining their MPH degree. This program has
revolutionized the Bloomberg School, making it more accessible to
greater numbers of potential students. It has also worked to
better prepare students for the multi-faceted challenges they will face
in the real world, such as strange new diseases and threats of
bio-terrorism. Schoenrich believes her latest pursuit brings her
great rewards: "Some of my greatest gratification is related to
assissting graduate students in the field of public health. The
younger men and women are the future, and the responsibility for the
health and welfare of the communities in which they live and work will
rest with them."12
Edyth Schoenrich's dedication to Johns Hopkins, public health, and
education shine through in her career and will inspire generations to
come.
Over
the course of her career Dr. Schoenrich has received many awards and
honors. These include: the Stebbins medal from The Johns Hopkins
University, 1989; Distinguised Medical Alumna award, 1997; and the
William H. Welch Award from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
The Johns Hopkins University has also honored Schoenrich by
establishing the Edyth H. Schoenrich Professorship in Preventative
Medicine in 1996. She has also been a member of numerous
organizations including: lifetime member of the Delta Omega Honorary
Public Health Societh, Alpha chapter at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health; President of the National Society of Delta
Omega, 1982; Alpha Omega Alpha, University of Chicago School of
Medicine; Phi Beta Kappa, Duke University; member of the Medical and
Chirurgical Society of Maryland, Baltimore City Medical Society; and a
member of the Association of Teachers of Preventative Medicine.
Finally, Dr. Schoenrich has also served in various community
organizations, which include: a trustee in the Friends Life Care
Community, 1984; the Kennedy-Krieger Institute of Baltimore, 1985; the
Visiting Nurses Association, 1990-95; and the Maryland Home and
Community Care Foundation, 1995. Edyth Schoenrich is also
certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American
Board of Preventative Medicine.13
The extensive and varied career
of Dr. Edyth H. Schoenrich is
admirable, as is her unyielding commitment to her life's
interests. Though her career has shifted from a position of
physician to that of an administrator, she still recognizes the
importance in her work: "Though I'm sitting at a desk, I don't feel I'm
into a routine. And when I sit together with our faculty and
students, I'm trying to encourage and nourish--to find new ways of
looking at the same old material. When I do that I feel like a
sculptor."14 Whether it is
educating her students in public health
courses, designing programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health, or hot-air balooning in the Swiss Alps with her husband,
a favorite pastime, Schoenrich shows no indications of slowing down,
but, rather, forges ahead to continue living life to its fullest.
In an interview for the Bloomberg School Schoenrich explained her
philosophy on life: "You
don't have to plan out your whole working life from beginning to
end.
Just start out doing your thing. Even if you don't know where
you'll
end up you can have an exciting life. But never lose sight of
your
values. You should have a purpose, a passion that drives you."15
Undoubtedly this is what has driven Schoenrich and it is what will
continue to inspire others to come.
Endnotes:
1. Engram, Sara. "The Doctor is Always In:
Mini-Profile, Edyth
Hull Schoenrich '41," Duke University Magazine, July-August 2003.
http://www.dukemagazine.duke.edu/dukemag/issues/070803/depmini-schoenrich.html.
return to text
2. Ibid. return to
text
3. "Edyth Hull Schoenrich," Biography Resource
Center, 2005. http://galenet.galegroup.com.
return to text
4. Birch, Kristi. "Wise Words," Johns Hopkins
Public Health,
the Magazine of The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
Spring 2005. http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/Magazine/Wise_words/index.html.
return to text
5. Hammett, Corinne F. "Woman M.D.: When
Scrubbing Up Means Surgery, Not Dinner Dishes," Baltimore News-American, 7 October
1979. return to text
6. Biography Resource Center. return to text
7. Engram. return to text
8. "Faculty: Edyth Schoenrich," Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School
of Public Health, 2005. http://faculty.jhsph.edu/?F=Edyth&L=Schoenrich.
return to text
9. Ibid. return to
text
10. Biography Resource Center. return to text
11. "Edyth H. Schoenrich Professorship in
Preventative
Medicine," Named Professorships, Deanships, and Directorships, The
Johns Hopkins University, n.d. http://webapps.jhu.edu/namedprofessorships/professorshipdetail.cfm?professorshipID=249.
return to text
12. "Director of Part-Time Programs for
Public Health Inducted
into Maryland Women's Hall of Fame," Hopkins Happenings at the
Montgomery County Campus, 28 April 2005. http://www.mcc.jhu.edu/data/Newsletters/May%2005%20Web%20Version.pdf.
return to text
13. Biography Resource Center. return to text
14. Rehert, Isaac. "Preventing Rather than
Curing," The Baltimore Sun,
14 July 1977. return to text
15. Birch. return
to text
Biography written by 2005 summer
intern Lauren Morton
Return to Dr. Edyth H. Schoenrich's Introductory Page
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