Section on

International Child Health
Newsletter
Spring 2007

Peter J. Adasek, MD, FAAP: Little Falls High School Alumni, Class of 1957,
Whatever Your Passion You Can Make it Happen
Teaching Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Around the World
Resmiye Oral, MD, FAAP and Duke Duncan, MD, FAAP

Recognizing child abuse as a problem was a relatively new concept in 1970 when Dr. Adasek entered private practice in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  He just kind of drifted into that aspect of pediatrics and was fortunately located.  Denver was just up the road, and that was where it all began.  There was the University of Colorado and there were the giants of his “new disease”; C. Henry Kempe, Ray Helfer and Bart Schmidt.  When Peter began in a group practice, his associates requested that he see the majority of the child abuse cases.  He accepted but soon became aware that when he saw these cases and then went to court to testify, there was little remuneration for the evaluation and for the court appearance.  The police who investigated the cases were often not too experienced in those early days and so he would take pictures plus would video record the interviews and physical exams of the alleged victims.  Peter eventually made a teaching tape (“It’s Safe to be Involved”) for physicians to encourage them to document what they heard and saw.

He showed this film in Paris at the International Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect and then took a sabbatical from his practice, purchased a motor home and traveled throughout the USA giving talks on child abuse at hospitals, clinics, medical schools, police departments and social service departments to increase awareness of this problem.  One lecture was given in Ganada, Arizona on the Navajo Reservation.  Talking with tribal leaders opened his eyes to the different ways that different societies deal with child misbehavior and how different child punishment is viewed.

Peter thought it would be well if he saw the lawyer side of this issue and so he went to law school for a semester plus served as a law clerk for awhile.  But that was not satisfying and he became restless.

As he continued working in the field, he began thinking about his roots and how child abuse was viewed and dealt with in the country where his grandparents grew up.  He knew that they had immigrated to the US from Czechoslovakia prior to the First World War.  It seemed logical for him to go to his family’s country of origin and talk about child abuse in that culture.  Getting permission to teach at the medical schools there was not easy.  Contacts were hard to come by.  When they were found, most inquiries were not answered.  However, when one is on a mission, one must not be deterred.  Taking “no” for an answer is not an option.  Finally, he found a contact in Denver, a Czech OB-GYN physician who put him in contact with the Minister of Health in Prague.  After several unanswered letters, the Minister responded and said he could teach at Charles University and Associated Medical Schools.  Since then, Peter has lectured at medical schools, nursing schools, hospitals, pediatric clinics all over the country and was designated “Advisor to the Minister of Health of the Czech Republic.”  Perseverance pays.  Over the years, in addition to multiple places in the US and in the Czech and Slovak Republics, he has lectured in Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Hungary, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Argentina, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Slovenia, Croatia, and Canada.  Peter was willing to assume the majority of the financial obligations.  But he says the other rewards have been great.  His remuneration has been to know that he has broached this important subject that has been “taboo” in many locals; that he has taught many people who serve children how to determine the difference between accidental trauma and abuse; how to document the abuse and how to confirm the diagnosis; and how to testify on behalf of the child.  These efforts culminated in 2003 with Dr. Adasek being awarded Honorary Membership in the Slovak Medical Association and the Slovak Pediatric Society.  The following year the same distinction was given to him by the authorities in the Czech Republic.

Where there is a will, the way will appear.