Chapter 11: An Unbelievable Journey at MD Anderson
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Description
In this final Chapter, Dr. Lichtiger reflects on the exciting and unexpected career path that MD Anderson gave him. He talks about how he was transformed from a laboratory scientist looking at samples into a clinician who works with “the human element.” Dr. Lichtiger retired in 2008, though he has continued to work nearly full time in the Transfusion Medicine Section. As he looks ahead to genuine retirement, he says he is thinking of getting a law degree or studying Mandarin, to keep his mind active. He sees himself as “one more soldier” at MD Anderson, noting that the institution allowed him to develop a passion for his work. He hopes that the next generation of faculty in Transfusion Medicine will carry on the tradition of seeing the field as a clinical discipline. His personal philosophy, he says, is simply to contribute to efforts to create a world that’s better for everyone.
Identifier
LichtigerB_02_20120612_C11
Publication Date
6-12-2012
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD , Oral History Interview, June 12, 2012
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - View on Career and AccomplishmentsCharacter, Values, Beliefs, Talents Personal Background Career and Accomplishments Post Retirement Activities Professional Values, Ethics, Purpose Dedication to MD Anderson, to Patients, to Faculty/Staff
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Disciplines
History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | Oncology | Oral History
Transcript
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD :
But in my perspective this was for me an unbelievable journey. This is the only job I’ve had. The other job I had was when I was in med school. I was driving a small truck to make a living but otherwise—but I could not have predicted this journey.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Where did you start and where did you end up, do you feel? In terms of the journey, what did you traverse? Do you feel like you became a different person?
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD :
Oh, of course, of course.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
How so?
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD :
I just thought that the only thing that was important was for me to be able to make a diagnosis, and then in the journey I learned to deal with people, how to be patient, to be understanding. Of course, my wife and my children trained me too because I realized there are limitations. You can demand but—my children used to tell me, “Who do you think you are?” And so the journey. I never thought I was going to get involved in quality, and today I’m an ASQ-certified quality manager.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
What does that mean, ASQ?
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD :
American Society of Quality. I never thought I was going to get involved in—get an MBA and do all these things. Each time—every period in my life led me to seek—made me realize that I didn’t have enough knowledge and capability to comprehend and handle issues that were coming up. I realized—and other people suggested, too, I needed further education, and now I’m strongly thinking about going to law school. (laughs)
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
Are you really? Benjamin Lichtiger, MD Yeah, my wife sees me very anxious, and my hobby is cooking, but my children are gone. They’re married, and so it’s my wife and I, and she said, “Maybe you need to go get another career.” I’m thinking either that or going to learn Chinese—Mandarin. Not because I need it but because it’s difficult. It’s going to make my mind work. This is how I came a naive twenty-six/twenty-seven-year-old guy to MD Anderson. I never thought I was going to—maybe I could have achieved higher, but to achieve the higher levels things are not for free. One pays a price, and as I said, as I mentioned before, I didn’t want to pay that price. For me it was very important. I love my children, my wife. The family life was very, very important for me, and I had to take away something because I couldn’t take it away from the patient care, my responsibilities, so it was going to go into the night. So I said, “No, we need to make a decision here, and this is the way we’re going to go.” Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD Of all the contributions that you’ve made to MD Anderson, what are the ones that you’re most proud of?
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD :
I don’t think I’ve made any contribution really.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
No?
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD :
No. I consider myself just one more soldier. That’s all. I don’t think I can claim that I made a contribution. I think I’m grateful Anderson was very nice to me. I cannot complain. There were some times we had differences of opinions about something, but I’m grateful to Anderson for allowing me to develop my passion and do the things that I felt were proper, and I was given the room, given the space and the opportunities to do it, and I always knew that my boss, the patient, is in the long run the person who I’m working for. But I cannot say that—somebody else would have done probably a better job, to be frank with you.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
What initiatives—what do you hope will be carried on? I mean, you have a certain perspective that you’ve brought—philosophy, if you will—to organizing things in transfusion services in the blood bank. What do you hope will be carried on?
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD :
I hope that my partners and some other people that may come along or fellows are going to understand that the blood bank is a clinical discipline and that we cannot— No matter how blood banking evolves, there’s going to be a patient behind, and we need to talk with the patient and understand what matters to the patient and what the patient’s concern is because I see many colleagues of mine in other hospitals. They sit in the blood bank in an office and don’t move from there, and they wait for the problem to come to them. I go out and look for problems, and so that’s the only way to innovate, to bring changes, to make things better. My desire is that my partners will learn the good things from me and learn the bad things that I did, and they will not commit the same sin, and they will enhance it. And quite frankly, the day I leave I will leave very silently, and I will try to leave as few marks as possible because my philosophy is that we come to this life and we have to try to create a world that’s better for everybody, and that’s it. Just a simple soldier. That is my perspective, and I think that answers all your questions.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD :
I think it does. Do you have anything else that you—?
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD :
No. Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD No? Well, thank you very much.
Benjamin Lichtiger, MD :
I don’t know why I’m getting emotional. (End of Audio 2 Session 2)
Recommended Citation
Lichtiger, Benjamin MD, PhD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 11: An Unbelievable Journey at MD Anderson" (2012). Interview Chapters. 1466.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1466
Conditions Governing Access
Open
