At almost 75 years old, Dr. Paul Walfish, a physician at Mount Sinai Hospital, still has more than 20 years to go before he reaches his father’s age at retirement.
Dr. Paul Walfish
His father Henry, now 103, practised law until he was 97, said Walfish. “He taught me that if you like what you’re doing, you stick around, and if you have your health, age doesn’t matter. He is my shining example.”
As a professor emeritus of medicine, pediatrics, otolaryngology, pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Toronto, and a senior consultant in the Joseph and Mildred Sonshine Family Centre for Head and Neck Disease at Mount Sinai, Walfish, an endocrinologist, said he’s doing more than ever and has no plans to retire.
“The word is not in my vocabulary,” said Walfish, who along with his wife has two children and two grandchildren.
A member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, he was recently honoured with the 2009 John B. Stanbury Pathophysiology Award, making him the first Canadian to win three prestigious awards from the American Thyroid Association.
In 2004, he was awarded the association’s Paul Starr Award, and in 2007 he was awarded the H. Ingbar Distinguished Leadership Award.
All three awards honour outstanding contributions in the field, said Walfish, “and to win [them all] is exciting. It’s like winning the Triple Crown in horse racing.”
He said that peer recognition in itself is a great honour, but to make it an even more special honour, John Stanbury was Walfish’s mentor when he spent a year at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School after completing his speciality training in internal medicine at the University of Toronto in 1963.
“I still have the letter inviting me to come and study there. [This award] is an unexpected spinoff of my career, since I worked with [Stanbury.]”
Since he joined Mount Sinai in 1964, Walfish has become well known for his pioneering work involving screening newborns for the detection of an underactive thyroid condition using a heel-prick test. As well, along with his colleagues, he pioneered the application of ultrasound and fine-needle biopsy in North America to systematically investigate thyroid nodules in the early detection and treatment of thyroid cancer.
By the early 1970s, he had gained international recognition for important breakthroughs in the detection and treatment of thyroid disorders.
In addition to his research, however, he has maintained a strong conviction to stay in contact with patients, and he spends half his working time – he plays tennis during his leisure time – with them. “I still learn from my patients. I have discovered a few syndromes while treating them.”
Becoming a physician was a natural thing for him, he said. “I always had a passion for science and biology. Anything and everything always interested me.”
