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North of Atlanta, near Alpharetta, traveling Georgia 400, you will see the Dr. Leila D. Denmark Interchange, named in honor of the woman who may very well be the oldest practicing pediatrician in the world. Dr. Leila Daughtry-Denmark was born in Georgia in 1898, and on February 1, 2001 she will be 103 years old.
At the age of 30, Dr. Denmark became the third woman to graduate from the Medical College of Georgia. She became the first intern at the Egleston Hospital for Children in Atlanta, and has been a practicing physician ever since, specializing in pediatrics. She and husband John E. Denmark, a banker, raised one daughter, Mary.
Dr. Denmark has regular office hours every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, but she makes no appointments; all her patients are walk-ins. For many years her Thursdays have been spent volunteering at a free clinic.
A visit to the office of Dr. Denmark is like a visit to another time, a scene you've often visited in a Norman Rockwell print. The office, located in a small historical home in Alpharetta, looks much as it must have 50 years ago. There is a small front porch on the wooden house, the door is unlocked. Entering the front room, you find an assortment of old seats, including a rustic bench. Although she has been the recipient of numerous awards through the years, you won't find them displayed here. The walls are bare, save a few tacked-up drawings by some of her favorite people and a few hand-made homilies by grateful parents. A solitary black rotary dial phone sits on a table near the door and Dr. Denmark will pick up the phone herself if it rings.
Among the things you will not see in her office are receptionists and nurses. Dr. Denmark doesn't have any. Her examining room, complete with an examining table and a scale and not much else, is right off the main room. Parents bringing their children know to go to the file cabinet and pull their child's file in preparation for seeing the doctor. After your child is examined, the file goes into a pile which Dr. Denmark will use for billing you, if you require billing. A typical office visit is only $10.
Generations of families have brought their children to Dr. Denmark for her wisdom and experience. Many travel over 100 miles to continue this family tradition. But more than tradition or habit or nostalgia brings parents to Dr. Denmark. Her unique style inspires confidence, children are instinctively drawn to her, and her diagnoses are very much on target. Her waiting room is often a round table discussion as parents and grandparents share their own Dr. Denmark story of when they were a child, often with photographs from those long-ago visits. Dr. Denmark will happily pose with her patients when time permits.
Dr. Denmark is a big believer in proper nutrition for children (and adults) and would appear to be living proof that her methods are successful. Among the notions that she espoused long before they became popular is an aversion to milk for children and pregnant women. Dr. Denmark has always been outspoken that cow's milk is an unnatural food for human children and that many children are allergic to milk. She also objects to fruit juices, saying her patients should eat the fruit rather than its juice. She prefers that her patients drink only water.
Dr. Denmark was among the first medical professionals to publicly object to cigarette smoking around children. She was among the first to publicly decry the use of alcohol, tobacco, caffeine and drugs in pregnant women, saying that the babies were born addicted to these substances.
Dr. Denmark's philosophy of child-rearing is spelled out in great detail in her book, Every Child Should Have A Chance, first published in 1971, and now in its eighth printing. The book is available through Dr. Denmark's office; the address can be found in the greater Atlanta telephone book. The book is dedicated To the Giver of Life and those who help to preserve it. When asked to autograph her book, she often writes: Do what you can to help. And she has followed her own advice throughout her life of service to children.
About her own longevity, the usually outspoken Dr. Denmark is remarkably reticent. She will tell you that she gets up early and has a cup of hot water, no coffee or tea, usually with banana and an egg. Her usual meals include a protein, a couple of vegetables and a fruit. She turned down a slice of her own 100th birthday cake, saying too much sugar was unhealthy.
Dr. Denmark stays busy, but in her own estimation has never worked a day in her life. She says that by its very definition, work is not fun and that what she does is fun. Asked when she will retire, her answer is that she'll know that day has come when she goes to her office and no patients show up.
Her patients agree that that day will not be coming soon.
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