If Gerry Burke is grateful for one thing about his impoverished childhood, it's that he was born in Montreal-a place with a world-class university that allowed him to leverage his intellectual abilities into a ticket to another world.
Rising above humble beginnings, overcoming venomous anti-Semitism, and achieving far more than what he-or anyone else-ever expected, Burke climbs from the ghetto to a prestigious position in academic medicine.
As chairman of the Department of Medicine at Chicago's Cook County Hospital, one of the largest public sector teaching hospitals in the United States, Burke stands at the pinnacle of a world he never knew existed.
A pioneer in the then-emerging field of nuclear medicine, a skillful leader, and a born teacher, Burke's career has allowed him to positively impact the lives of thousands of physicians.
It Was Worth the Trip chronicles the path Burke takes to reach the top-and what he learns about himself and his life's purpose. With great wisdom and insight-about the nature of life, success, and even our health-care system today-Gerry Burke shares the lessons he's learned along the way.
About the Author: Gerry Burke completed his undergraduate and medical education at McGill University in Montreal, where he earned the Holmes gold medal for the highest standing in the graduating medical school class.
Burke trained in internal medicine and endocrinology at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, before being appointed chair of the Department of Endocrinology and Nuclear Medicine. He was then appointed chair of endocrinology at Cook County Hospital in Chicago before becoming chairman of the Department of Medicine at that institution.
Burke took early retirement and accepted a position as a professor of medicine at Rush University College of Medicine, and found his life's purpose in teaching clinical medicine to medical residents in training.
Now retired, he lives in Chicago with his wife. He has four adult children and four grandchildren.
