Patricia Morgan-Glenn
M.D. Medical Dir. Metro Regional Diag. Treatment Ctr. for Child Abuse & Neglect • Children’s Hospital of N.J • Newark, N.J. • Age: 39
Treating young patients during her pediatric residency in Newark, N.J., drew Dr. Pat Morgan-Glenn into helping victims of child abuse. “I saw too many children who were victims of physical or sexual abuse. I felt there had to be a way to prevent this from happening to them. So I actually entered the field hoping to do more in the way of prevention,” Morgan-Glenn says.
She does so by speaking to child-care providers and nurses and at school, law enforcement and parent forums. But she does more in the way of evaluation, diagnosis and treatment in her role as medical director for the Metro Regional Diagnostic and Treatment Center for Child Abuse and Neglect at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey. At 39, Dr. Morgan-Glenn is the youngest medical director in the state. Most of those in the same position have been in such positions since she was a medical student or resident at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School.
Morgan-Glenn, who also holds a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Howard University, acknowledges that she possesses an ability to deal with children in a way that makes them feel at ease whether they are in good health or poor. “Pediatrics is a great field. Children are resilient, so it is truly a wonderful thing to see them get better and just bounce back,” she says. She stresses that empathy is a required trait in pediatric medicine or when dealing with child maltreatment. “This field also requires one to have an ability to be unbiased and nonjudgmental. We have to get the history and diagnosis correct. That may not happen if you are unable to be nonjudgmental when you interact with families,” she says.
Morgan-Glenn’s experience with abused and neglected children has made her a patient but more alert parent. “I am perhaps a bit hypersensitive to sexual abuse,” says the mother of two. I have made sure that my children, who are 5 and 7 years old, understand how to keep their bodies safe. This is an unfortunate reality of today’s world.”
