Dr. Schrager earned her MD from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1948. She met her future husband, Alvin J. Schrager, MD during her internship, and after finishing post-graduate training they started a private practice in Westfield, New Jersey. Their two sons have become physicians, as have her niece and grandniece, establishing three generations of doctors in the family.
In 1972, Dr. Schrager left private practice to become the full-time Director of Pediatrics at Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, where she founded the Pediatric Residency Training Program. Overlook became an affiliate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1973, and Dr. Schrager joined the faculty as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics. She retired in 1989 but still maintains her teaching contacts at Columbia. In 2000, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Pediatrics from Overlook Hospital.
Dr. Schrager is the author of two books. Her memoir, The Complex Life of a Woman Doctor, was displayed at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany in October 2008 and the ALA convention in Washington in 2010. Rebecca and her Brothers, published in October, 2010, is a novel about her childhood adventures.
She is a frequent speaker at book clubs and book fairs and has appeared at the Virginia Festival of the Book as well as on radio and television.
Curriculum Vitae
Medical Education
Medical College of Pennsylvania, M.D., 1948Internship and Residency in Pediatrics, Metropolitan Hospital, NYC, 1948-1951
Fellowship in Pediatrics, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, NYC, 1951-1952
Awards
Post 50th Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015, Brooklyn College.
Founders' Award, 2015, Commonwealth Youthchoirs.
Presented on the occasion of their concert version of Mother B, an opera celebrating a woman who defied
the medical community to establish new standards of care during the Civil War.
Academic Appointments
Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1975-1984Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1984-
Hospital Appointments
Attending Pediatrician (Pediatrics) Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ, 1953-2003Chief, Department of Pediatrics, Overlook Hospital, 1970-1972
Associate Attending Pediatrician, Babies Hospital, CPMC, NYC, 1975-1984
Attending Pediatrician, Babies Hospital, CPMC, NYC, 1984-1990
Director of Pediatrics (Full Time) Overlook Hospital, Summit NJ, 1972-1989
Program Director and Chairman (Full Time) Pediatric Residency, Overlook Hospital, Summit NJ, 1973-1989
Research Activities
Principal Pediatric Investigator, HHS Grant for Pilot Study of Joint Internal Medicine-Pediatric Primary Care Residency Training Program (Funded 12/9/73-12/30/83, $2.5 Million)National Board of Medical Examiners research study entitled "Medical Audit System to Evaluate Pediatric Residents", 1980-1983
Professional Societies
Fellow, American Academy of PediatricsFellow, N.J. Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Medical Association
Union County Medical Society
Medical Society of New Jersey
Other Professional Activities
Assistant Medical Director, NY Regional Blood Program American Red Cross, 1952-53Private Practice of Pediatrics, Westfield, NJ 1953-1972
Member, Westfield Board of Health, 1973-1980
Councillor, New Jersey Academy of Pediatrics, 1973-1977
Neonatal-Perinatal Task Force, NJ Emergency Medical Service Project, 1978-1983
Executive Committee, Department of Pediatrics, Babies Hospital, CPMC, 1975-1983
Faculty Council, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1980-1983
Publications Committee, Academy of Medicine of NJ, 1978-1989
Chairman, Publications Committee Academy of Medicine of NJ, 1983-1989
Executive Committee, Dept. of Pediatrics, Overlook Hospital, Summit, NJ, 1970-1989
Medical Education Committee, Overlook Hospital 1972-1989
Organized Regional Conference on "The Role of the Pediatrician as Child Advocate and Instrument for Social Change" with Drs. Benjamin Spock, Rustin McIntosh, Edward Curnen, Richard Day and Michael Katz, Overlook Hospital 4/23/80
Editor-in Chief, Newsletter, Academy of Medicine of New Jersey 1980-1983
Board of Trustees of the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey 1980-1989
Secretary, Pediatric Section, Academy of Medicine of New Jersey 1980-1989
Education Committee, Academy of Medicine of New Jersey, 1980-1989
Ad Hoc Appeals Panel in Pediatrics, Accreditation Council for Graduation Medical Education (ACGME) 1982-1986
Permanent Appeals Panel in Pediatrics (ACGME) 1987-1993
Committee on the Institutional Approach to the Infant with Sudden Unexplained Apnea or Cardiorespiratory Collapse, Babies Hospital, CPMC, 1982-1989
Committee of Pediatric Program Directors, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1986-1989
Visiting Lecturer, JFK Hospital, Edison, NJ, "Management of Epiglottitis" 12/8/82
Visiting Lecturer, Yamanashi University, Japan, "AIDS in Children," 10/29/86
Consultant in Pediatrics, Children's Specialized Hospital Mountainside, NJ, 1970-2003
Emeritus Staff, Children's Specialized Hospital, 2003-
Private Consulting Practice in Pediatrics, Westfield, NJ, 1989-2003
Pediatric Consultant, AXION, 1989-1995
Lecturer, Pediatric Grand Rounds, Overlook Hospital. 8/27/93