Deborah Prothrow-Stith facts for kids

Deborah Prothrow-Stith is an American doctor who is the Dean and a professor at the Charles R. Drew University College of Medicine in Los Angeles. She is known for her important work in public health and for creating new ways to keep young people safe.

Dr. Prothrow-Stith has helped many health organizations improve their work. She was also a professor and an Associate Dean at the Harvard School of Public Health. While at Harvard, she started the Division of Public Health Practice and raised over $14 million for health programs.

One of her biggest ideas was to treat youth violence as a health problem, not just a crime. She created "The Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents," one of the first programs of its kind for schools. She has also written several books and over 100 articles.

In 1987, she was appointed the Commissioner of Public Health for Massachusetts. There, she managed a department with 3,500 workers and a budget of $350 million. Dr. Prothrow-Stith is a graduate of Spelman College and Harvard Medical School. In 2003, she was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, a very high honor for doctors. She has also received ten honorary doctorates for her amazing work.

Early Life and Education

Deborah Prothrow-Stith was born on February 6, 1954, in Marshall, Texas. She grew up mostly in Atlanta, Georgia. Her father, Percy, worked for an insurance company. She finished high school in Houston, Texas.

Many top universities wanted her to attend, but she chose Spelman College in Atlanta. She earned a degree in mathematics there. After graduating from Spelman in 1975, she went to Harvard University Medical School and became a medical doctor in 1979.

A New Approach to Youth Safety

As a young doctor working in Boston, Dr. Prothrow-Stith had a new and important idea. She saw many young people getting hurt. She believed that just treating their injuries in the emergency room was not enough to solve the problem.

She decided to look at violence as a public health issue. This means she wanted to prevent it from happening in the first place, just like doctors work to prevent diseases. She thought that teaching people about safety could help, similar to how education has helped reduce smoking.

Creating a Safety Program for Schools

Dr. Prothrow-Stith and her team created a program called the Violence Prevention Curriculum for Adolescents. This program teaches young people how to handle conflicts peacefully and stay safe. Today, her curriculum is used in schools all across the United States and in other countries.

After finishing her medical training in 1982, she began teaching at Boston University School of Medicine. She also worked as a doctor at Boston City Hospital. She spent time at a health center in a low-income part of Boston, where she treated teenagers for all kinds of health issues.

Serving the State of Massachusetts

In 1987, Governor Michael Dukakis appointed Dr. Prothrow-Stith as the Commissioner of Public Health for Massachusetts. She was the first woman to ever hold this job.

As commissioner, she started the first Office of Violence Prevention in any state health department. She also created new programs to help people stay healthy and avoid getting sick.

In 1995, President Bill Clinton appointed her to the National Commission on Crime Control and Prevention. This group helped advise the government on how to make the country safer.

Writing and Recognition

Dr. Prothrow-Stith has shared her ideas in several books. In 1991, she published Deadly Consequences. This was one of the first books to explain violence from a public health point of view to everyone. She also co-wrote the books ... Is No Accident in 2004 and Sugar and Spice and No Longer Nice in 2005.

Selected Publications

• Prothrow-Stith, D., et al. (1987). "The Violence Prevention Project: A Public Health Approach." Science, Technology, & Human Values, vol. 12, no. 3/4, pp. 67–69. JSTOR
• Prothrow-Stith, D., Spivak, H.R. (2004) "... is no accident: Understanding and preventing youth violence in America." Jossey-Bass.
• Prothrow-Stith, D., Weissman, M. (1991) "Deadly consequences: How Violence Is Destroying Our Teenage Population and a Plan to Begin Solving the Problem." HarperCollins New York.

Personal Life

Dr. Prothrow-Stith is married to Charles Richard Stith. He is a professor at Boston University and a former U.S. Ambassador.

Awards

Dr. Prothrow-Stith has received many awards for her work, including:

• The Secretary of Health and Human Services Award for Exceptional Public Service (1989)
• The American Psychiatric Association's Solomon Carter Fuller Award (1998)
• The World Health Day Award (1993)
• 10 honorary doctorates from different universities
• Woman of the Year for the 2nd District by the LA County Board of Supervisors (2017)