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Announcement

The MGfC Alumni Association from hence forth to be referred to as “The Talbot Society of Mass General for Children.”

This is in honor of Fritz Bradley Talbot, MD, who founded the Children’s Medical Service at Mass General in 1910, almost a hundred years after the first child was hospitalized at Mass General. Dr. Talbot was a visionary who persevered through war and the Great Depression to develop a complete pediatric medical department to serve the children of Boston at Mass General. Talbot’s innovations were many, including a “Play Lady” —the earliest form of a Child Life Specialist—as well as the appointment of Mary Wright as house pupil, the first woman appointed to any service at Mass General. He was a pioneer in describing the underlying causes and consequences of “failure to thrive” in infancy and early childhood, quantifying the energy requirements of growing children (BMR) by measuring the expired carbon dioxide (measurements/reference standards that are quite close to those in use today), the importance of vitamin D in childhood nutrition, the concept of food allergy and many other highly novel and significant advances during that time that we take for granted today in the everyday practice of pediatrics. Of note, Fritz Talbot’s son, Dr. Nathan Talbot, also served as chair of the department from 1962-1977, furthering the legend of the Talbot name.

The Alumni Association hopes that naming the Association in honor of Dr. Talbot will inspire a new era of membership, camaraderie, philanthropy and education. Our mission remains the same and can be found below.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Talbot Society of Mass General for Children is to:

  • Support Mass General for Children in its vision to provide outstanding, compassionate, personalized, developmentally appropriate care for infants, children and adolescents within the context of their family and community.
  • Act as advisors, advocates and ambassadors for Mass General for Children and its mission.
  • Support the philanthropic goals of Mass General for Children.
  • Foster communication and relationships among our alumni—past, present and future—in order to build mutually beneficial relationships, to support a national referral network, and to provide updates about clinical, research and educational programs at MGfC.
  • Mentor trainees and recent graduates and support their career development.

New Alumni Website

We are pleased to announce that the new alumni website will launch in the coming months. The new site will enable you to stay in touch with friends and colleagues, to receive news from Mass General for Children, and to learn about upcoming alumni events. Register now.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please send an email to MGfCAlumni@partners.org as any and all feedback about the system is welcome.