Dr. Moore has also taught community grocery store workers how to read food labels, how to shop economically and how to prepare healthy meals, so workers can share that information with shoppers (and use it in their own homes). He regularly leads Saturday morning walking programs as well.
“If I’m in sweats, it’s a little bit easier for some folks to ask questions,” Dr. Moore said. “My goal is to create a layered way of providing support systems for folks to get access to care and learn more about health.”
Called by His Church: Dr. D. Bradley Welling
As an otolaryngologist, D. Bradley Welling, MD, PhD, chief of otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, and editor of the Triological Society journal Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology, has won awards and acclaim for his research on the clinical manifestations of mutations in the neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) gene in vestibular schwannoma. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church), Dr. Welling serves his community and mentors the next generation.
Dr. Welling is the president of the Cambridge Stake of the church’s Young Men’s Organization; he oversees and coordinates activities for eight regional groups that serve young men aged 12 to 18. Dr. Welling and his counselors, along with the Young Women’s leaders, plan and lead youth conferences and gatherings that emphasize community service. This summer’s youth conference, for instance, included opportunities for the youth to entertain the elderly at area nursing homes. They have also pulled weeds along the Charles River in an effort to preserve the area’s natural ecology. In fall and spring, youth help clean up and prepare a local youth camp.
Each of these activities is important, but Dr. Welling knows that the relationships he and the youth members are building are precious and important. “You have more opportunity to influence a young person, I think, between the ages of about 12 and 16 than at any other time,” Dr. Welling said. “By the time they’re 17 or 18, they’re pulled away from home and are focused on their friends. But in that 12-to-16-year-old-range, they’re still willing to listen to you. They are really a wonderful group of young people.”
Dr. Welling sums up why he thinks community service is important for otolaryngologists: “It isn’t only a benefit to those you serve. It really helps individuals be well-grounded. It helps us not get too carried away with our own importance.”