Nowadays I get some of my best reading done on an airplane.

On a recent trip to Chicago, I caught up on a few back issues of The New Yorker, whose articles provide me some good for thought and occasionally even offer insights into the educational scene. One May issue article profiled a longtime doctor, Joseph Lieber, who has been a clinical educator at Elmhurst Hospital in New York for the past 25 years. Lieber has been a marvel in his field because he works at a public hospital that serves people from virtually every background on earth -- and therefore provides one of the most amazing teaching laboratories possible.

What inspired me most about reading the story of this truly inspirational man was how committed he is to his teaching. While he could make much more money and work fewer hours as a private physician, Lieber has always been drawn to the "classroom," and he has been a mentor to hundreds of doctors along the way. His patience, consistency of practice, and encouraging demeanor have brought out the best in the students under his tutelage. It doesn't hurt that he also has extensive knowledge of every medical malady imaginable.

Lieber reminded me of the many teachers who I have had in my life, not to mention the brilliant practitioners I encounter every day at CA. Some, like longtime math teacher Richard Kelly, who is retiring this year, show amazing range, persistence, insight into their students' psyches, and are always willing to "teach the kids they have" (Richard's mantra). We are ever grateful for the selflessness of our best teachers.

A few wonderful quotes punctuate the New Yorker piece, written by Rivka Galchen, a former student of Lieber's: "Teaching is like being a battle-hardened soldier placed again and again among the greens." Thus, we hope that our teachers translate their experience to us in a meaningful way, while never forgetting that students are likely encountering the material for the first time. In the end, "we always remember our great teachers, and wonder how they did it, and at what cost." Indeed we do, and we hope that at CA many of our teachers provide that lasting memory for our students.