Pushing For Better Solutions; Keep Learning: Judah Folkman's discoveries have given new life to thousands.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)

Publication: Investor's Business Daily

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Byline: CURT SCHLEIER

Judah Folkman knew from a young age that he wanted to minister.

His father was a rabbi, and young Judah occasionally accompanied his father on hospital rounds to visit ailing congregants. He liked what he saw; his father helping patients feel better. "At first I wanted to be a rabbi," he said in a recent IBD interview.

Most of the patients had had heart attacks and were in oxygen tents. "After many visits I noticed that my father would pray through the oxygen tents. And I saw that doctors would open the tent," he said. "That's when I changed my mind and decided I wanted to be a doctor."

Young Judah worried about his father's reaction: The rabbi assumed his son would follow in his footsteps. "But he said, "Fine, you can be a rabbi-like doctor,' " Folkman said. "And he taught me that to minister means the same thing in medicine as in the clergy."

Folkman, 72, stayed true to his dream and...

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