Mentors Welcome Red Sox Scholars of 2004
Manny Ramirez (left) greets Red Sox Scholar Gerard Widzaire and BIDMC mentors Benjamin Schneider, M.D., and Yvonne Gomez-Carrion, M.D., on June 9.

When Mark Chalek, BIDMC’s chief of business ventures, signed up to be a medical mentor for this year’s class of Red Sox Scholars, he wanted to help a student see what dreams the future could hold. “It’s a great program – a way to give back to our community,” says Chalek. “I enjoy working with kids, and since my own are grown now, I thought this would be a nice opportunity to reconnect with kids.”

Chalek is one of 25 BIDMC medical and administrative personnel serving as mentors for this year’s class of Red Sox Scholars. On June 9, he and his fellow BIDMC mentors escorted their scholars across Fenway Park, alongside Boston Red Sox players, during a pre-game welcoming ceremony for the Class of 2004. BIDMC is the presenting sponsor for the program, inaugurated last year for Boston sixth graders who are graduates of BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life), an academic enrichment program. Each scholar receives a $5,000 college scholarship funded by the Red Sox Foundation, and is matched with a Red Sox player and a mentor from BIDMC who meet them for special days at Fenway Park, medical career shadow days and field trips to BIDMC. Each class stays together for five years.

BIDMC Chief of Transplantation Douglas Hanto, M.D., Ph.D., a mentor for the class of 2003, recalls the scholars’ excitement when they visited BIDMC’s minimally invasive surgery labs, emergency department and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). “It was a chance to expose them to something they would not ordinarily be exposed to, in the hopes that it might stimulate their interest in a career in medicine,” he says. “We tried to give them a long-term view of the importance of getting a good education.”

Below: A great lineup: BIDMC scholars, mentors and Red Sox players. Photo by Jack Maley / Boston Red Sox

Barbara Sarnoff Lee, L.I.C.S.W., director of social work, became a mentor this year “to have a positive impact on a child’s life, try to encourage and interest a child in health care…and just because it seemed like a really fun thing to do!” She says that meeting her scholar was “a blast! I look forward to spending more time with her.”

Chalek sends weekly e-mails to his scholar, who is preparing for Latin School entrance exams. He finds it rewarding to guide a student toward a better future, and adds that being a mentor has also had unexpected rewards.

“I’m from this area, so being a Red Sox fan runs in the family,” says Chalek, recalling his reaction to being on the field with players at the welcoming ceremony. “I was probably more thrilled than the kids!”

Want to be considered for future classes of mentors? E-mail Judy Glasser at jglasser@bidmc.harvard.edu.

Meet this year’s BIDMC mentors:
Jennifer Beach, M.D., general medicine/HCA
Alexander Carbo, M.D., general medicine
Mark Chalek, research and academic affairs
Stephen Corbett, BID-Needham
William B. Daya, radiology
Paul D. Forte, human resources
Jule Frechette, ambulatory services
Yvonne Gomez-Carrion, M.D., ob/gyn
Sadia Haider, M.D., ob/gyn
Mary Jane Houlihan, M.D., breast surgery
Stephanie B. Jones, M.D., anesthesia
Joseph Kannam, M.D., cardiology
Lissa Kapust, social work
S. Annath Karumanchi, M.D., medicine/renal
Nina Koyama, M.B.A., D.M.D., NICU
Robert Lenkinski, radiology
Jeffrey Liebman, BID-Needham
Stacey McKinnon, radiology
Angel Rosa, radiology
Barbara Sarnoff Lee, L.I.C.S.W., social work
Benjamin Schneider, M.D., general surgery
Sherry D. Scovell, M.D., endovascular surgery
Dan Sullivan, M.D., general medicine/HCA
Karen Victor, M.D., general medicine/HCA
Martha Wilson, radiology