Talk to Jackson pediatrician Bruce Maley, MD, for just a minute and it is easy to see why he takes care of kids. The unabashedly proud family man knew in medical school he wanted either to bring children into the world or take care of them once they arrived. If he had only enjoyed surgery more, he may have gone with obstetrics and gynecology. Fortunately, for the kids in West Tennessee, he followed his heart into pediatrics.

 

Maley, a proud U.S. Navy brat whose father served as a criminal investigator for 27 years, graduated from Millington High School and went to Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, on a baseball scholarship. When tuition increased beyond what his scholarship covered, Maley returned to Tennessee to attend the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

 

Maley remained in the UT system for medical school, earning his medical degree in Memphis at the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. "I felt I had a call to pediatrics," said Maley, who also attributes his choice of specialty to then head of the Pediatric Department at UT, Phil George, whom he respected a great deal. "I also learned that the screaming and the crying associated with the specialty separates those who can go into pediatrics."

 

He completed his residency in pediatrics at the Naval Hospital of Philadelphia, which included a six-month rotation at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "When I finished up my medical training in December of 1970, Vietnam was still going on and, being a Navy brat, I chose to enlist," said Maley, who married his wife Phyllis at age 21. The couple will celebrate their 44th anniversary at the end of the year. "But rather than going overseas to serve, I spent the next four years at the naval hospital in Millington, which closed about eight years ago."

 

In 1978, Maley moved his family, which had grown to include son, Chris, and daughter, Melissa, to Jackson and joined the Children's Clinic. "Dr. Billie Crook, who founded the clinic, and Dr. Blanche Emerson, who has since retired, encouraged me to look at the clinic when I was finishing up in Millington," said Maley. "We have been amazed at how Jackson and General hospital have grown over the past 30 years." 

 

Maley brings to his practice of pediatrics a unique perspective based on his own experience. "I was a resident in Philadelphia," said Maley. "When our son was born, he had a weak heart beat and had to be resuscitated. It was scary and it made me appreciate what families can go through."

 

Maley says pediatrics is a constant and happy specialty in which relationships are developed. "Unlike in other specialties, the vast majority of my patients get well. Thanks to advancements in medicine and technology, the number of children who develop chronic illnesses that cannot function or die is diminishing."

 

 "Kids are so much fun," said Maley, who admits he loves working with kids. "I get to watch them grow up and get to know families so well. It is really neat to see some of my former patients bringing in their kids for me to treat."

 

 

Maley attributes his ability to mainly practice in the clinic to the strides taken by General hospital that have focused on pediatric care. "The hospitalist program allows me to care for kids in the clinic without having to be called away to the hospital. Through their neonatology program, premature babies are treated by neonatologists. Plus the standard of care for preemies has gotten so high, it would be hard to care for them and treat patients in the office. With the relationships developed with Vanderbilt and LeBonheur through the Ayers Children's Center, so many families can see pediatric subspecialties here in Jackson. We now keep patients here that we used to have to send out to Memphis or Nashville."

 

 Maley has received numerous honors of distinction throughout his career. One that he is especially proud of is that he is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Fraternity, signifying he represents the top 10 percent of his medical school class. In 1978 as he was joining the Children's Clinic, he received the honor of being chosen among "Top Doctors" in the Mid-South by peers from the Memphis Mid-South area. He also has the honor of knowing his peers recognize him as one of the top clinicians in this area since he was elected to the 2009-2010 Best Doctors in America database.

 

Also high on Maley's list of accomplishments are his children and grandchildren. His son, who holds a medical degree in psychiatry, recently completed his residency in psychiatry from Washington University in St. Louis and will be moving to Nashville to work with the inpatient psychotic and schizophrenia unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "We are happy they are moving closer, especially since they have a one-year old son, Alex," said Maley. "Our daughter lives all the way in Valparaiso, Indiana, as her husband is on the faculty of the University of Chicago. That puts our other two grandchildren, Mimi and Jackson, quite a ways away."