- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

PSEG Foundation.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Working to create a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The Burke Foundation Myron and Elaine Adler private foundation, in support of the Adler Aphasia Center.

New Brunswick Development Corporation.

And by United Airlines.

Promotional support provided by Meadowlands Chamber.

Building connections, driving business growth.

And by BestofNJ.com.

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- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

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- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

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_ It’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hey, everyone.

Steve Adubato.

Let's talk education.

We are taping in the summer.

It'll be seen as school starts.

We kick off the program with Roger Leon, who's the superintendent of Newark Public Schools.

We have a long-time collaboration with Newark Public Schools promoting the leaders of tomorrow.

Good to see you, Roger.

- Great seeing you, sir.

- Help us understand this.

Why are you so bullish, positive, upbeat about public education in the Newark Public Schools with all the challenges you face in Newark and other urban public school districts?

- Obviously, the work that we're doing in Newark just embodies the greatness of our state and obviously the incredible work that is occurring across the country.

Urban school districts, not only in New Jersey, but throughout this entire country, have a responsibility.

We have, in many instances, the majority of the students with varying needs, and so to be able to address those needs becomes a task that is very, very complicated.

And so, finding strategies that are helping our greatest of students realize their fullest potential is an absolutely incredible thing.

And having been one of them right here in Newark, as you already know, born and raised, it just gives me great pride to see the greatness of what our students are accomplishing right here in Newark.

- You know, full disclosure, Roger was part of an event.

Every year, I host the, MC, the graduation ceremony at a charter school in Newark, the Robert Treat Academy that my dad, the late Steve Adubato Sr., started.

And I think it's one of the first charter schools in the state in the nation, and Roger was the superintendent, was the commencement speaker.

Eighth graders, charter school.

First of all, what you have to say, we'll talk about in a second.

People go, "Oh, charter schools.

So they're not public, but the public school superintendent was there."

So that's just not true, Roger, is it?

- Oh, absolutely not.

This whole idea, especially in Newark, we were struggling with, from the 1990s into the early 2000s, was families fighting against each other when parents really just want what's best for their kids.

And, you know, as you always know, I always talk about my mom.

She always says that a parent really just wants their child to be better than them.

And so the idea that there are choice opportunities becomes extremely important.

The interesting thing as we return back to local control in 2020 is that the district also is a choice for a school.

So, having the opportunity to speak at the Robert Treat Academy commencement exercise was an incredible honor because all of the students that are in Newark, whether they're in the school district's schools, in charter schools, private schools, parochial schools, or even the children who don't attend a Newark school but live in Newark, all of those are my students.

So, being able to let them know how proud I was of them at Robert Treat is consistent with not only what I believe I'm supposed to do as superintendent of schools in Newark, but what I've been taught to do ever since I was born.

- Roger, let's talk graduation rates.

Lots of talk.

"Oh, the graduation rate in Newark is lower than it is in other better-performing suburban schools."

What's reality?

- Well, the interesting thing is that Governor Christie and other governors agreed upon a definition of what is graduation rate.

So, it is the cohort of students that enter in your freshman year, and they actually stay all of the four years of their schooling.

What percent of those students actually graduate?

So, in Newark, we had, at one point in time when I was a principal, over 54% high mobility rate, which means the students that enter aren't necessarily the students that remain.

- Right.

- And many a times, the students that are tested are not the students that were there at the start of the year, so they didn't benefit from the academic programming.

So, ultimately, what we're responsible for is every single student, regardless of where they are, especially if they left Newark Public Schools.

And so, because of the mobility rate, things of that nature, it becomes very, very difficult in urban schools to actually get as close to that 100% mark.

How many of our students actually graduate from high school?

Well, all of the students that actually graduate from high school graduate from high school.

The issue becomes the number of students that left during one of their years of high school, where are they?

So making sure that we are cognizant of where they actually enroll and the fact that if they do finish, it's then the responsibility of the receiving district that has.

- Okay, so let's talk after graduation.

By the way, the Newark Public Schools have been designated as a, quote, "high-performing district."

Who determines that, Roger?

- That's all determined by the State Department of Education right here in the state of New Jersey.

- So, one of the things you talked about at that graduation ceremony was, because these Robert Treat Academy kids who might know well because our family's been very involved in that school, I know where they're going to school.

They're going to some great schools, great colleges, great high schools and colleges.

Where do your high school graduates go, and how has that evolved in the last few years?

- Yeah, so I do wanna answer that, but I don't know if you remember.

26 of the students at Robert Treat Academy Charter School are coming to my high schools- - Are going into... That's right.

- Because they have actually made that very important decision that there are actually high schools in Newark that can meet not only their expectations, but also to accomplish their dreams.

- Those are eighth graders going into high school, but you are- - Those are eighth graders going to high school.

- Sorry for interrupting, Roger.

You were talking about your high school seniors in the Newark Public Schools and where they're going to college.

- Yes, absolutely.

So, we have Omari Gaines, who a year ago entered Stanford.

He's our first student that went there.

And now, Zaiden McDonald is following him along already this year.

We're extremely proud of that.

I have my army of five students that are all going to Brown.

The interesting thing about these students, the one that's going to Harvard, the two that are in Princeton, Emilio and Justin.

Emilio is from Technology High School.

Justin is from Malcolm X Shabazz High School.

Both are going to Princeton, and they're all going on full rides.

The five kids that I have going to Brown, all five of them are on full rides, all because of the incredible work that was occurring at the different schools that they attended.

Two from Data Science, my new school.

Two from Science Park, the school, my alma mater where I graduated from, and one kid from East Side High School.

- So, hold on.

They're going to very impressive schools, that's great, but for some kids who choose not to go that route, there's a place for them in trade schools?

- Oh, absolutely.

But before we do that, because sometimes the college presidents in New Jersey get a little tickled.

- Yeah, like, "What about us?"

Yeah, well guess what?

- "What about us?"

- I have an army going to Montclair State University.

That's where I received my master's.

- My alma mater.

- I have a crew that's going to my alma mater at Rutgers in New Brunswick, as well as a good number at Rutgers, Newark, NJIT, William Paterson, Kean University.

So, I have students that are going to not only our state schools.

Drew University is receiving Divine Kibe, who is our Newark Public Schools student representative.

- Wow.

- The talent across, not only the state and the country, Newark kids.

But you're absolutely right.

There are some students that, ultimately at the end, regardless of our preparation for them, they're deciding that something other than college is in front of them.

So, we have my 311 Carpentry Program at Barringer High School where I have students that are not only becoming carpenters, but actually getting into the unions, becoming union members, and then returning back to Newark Public Schools as our own carpenters.

Just like the students at Montclair State University and those who are in my Teacher Academy program, they know that they get a district contract upon graduation.

I issued 54 Newark Public Schools teacher contracts to students that just graduated this June, and four years from now, they'll return back as teachers in Newark Public Schools.

- And that's at Montclair State.

- That's at Montclair State, but I want you to be aware that some of the students that are in our programs decide to go to different colleges all across our state, so that opportunity is forwarded to all of them.

- Roger Leon, thank you, my friend.

Keep doing important work with the staff and the educators, but mostly to the students in the Newark Public Schools, of which I am a product.

Thank you, my friend.

- Appreciate you.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- Hey, everyone, as part of our series on "Tomorrow's Physicians," and also part of another series we're doing called "Trust in Public Health," we have two really important healthcare leaders to share their perspective on these issues, Dr.

Keith Lewis is Vice Dean of the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and also Dr.

Diane Calello is Executive Medical Director of the New Jersey Poison Information and Education Center, and also professor of emergency medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and both honorees at the EJI Excellence in Medicine Awards that I've been honored to host for the last many years, good to see you, doctors.

- Great to see you, and thanks, Steve.

- Hey, let's do this, I'm curious, I've got to meet you through the EJI Excellence in Medicine Awards, but I wanna follow up on this first, Diane, your reason for going into medicine and at one point being a future physician, why'd you do that?

- Well, you know, Steve, I spent actually a fair amount of my childhood being a patient for a variety of reasons, and I was in college and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, and I realized the choice was very obvious, that I wanted to basically be able to influence lives the way the physicians I had interacted with influenced mine.

- Dr.

Lewis, what's your rationale and your motivation?

- It was pretty easy, I was a pharmacist in a clinic and I spent more time talking to the patients than I did in my infusion center... (indistinct) Chemotherapy drugs in New Haven, so I was curious and listening, and one of the physicians in the clinic said, "You like being with patients, I think you should go to medical school," and I listened, it was probably the best advice I ever got.

- You know, you mentioned medical school, and then, much of the work of the EJI Excellence in Medicine Awards is really scholarships to students who are in medical school, tomorrow's physicians.

- Right.

- Dr.

Calello, let me ask you this, what's the main message you share with those who are in medical school today trying to figure out the financing, the economics of it, and also the struggles, the burnout, the exhaustion, the challenges, the juggling?

What's your message to them in these incredibly challenging but important times in healthcare?

- It is a very challenging time to be in healthcare, and there are a lot of things that tomorrow's physicians will hear about obstacles and challenges, and burnout is real, and the financial challenges, right?

Those are known.

But I still, after 35 years in healthcare, believe that this is not a job, it's really a vocation and it becomes who you are, and so it really shouldn't be viewed as kind of the same lens of, "Should I go into, you know, other sectors or other kinds of jobs?"

Because this is a very different thing.

Medicine's a privilege, Steve, you know, like, we have the ability to interact with patients and their families on some of the most consequential days of their lives, and not everybody can say at, you know, the end of their day and the end of their years that they've made as big of a difference as people in healthcare can.

- You know, Dr.

Lewis, you listen to your colleague, and Dr.

Calello says it's not just what you do, it's who you are as a physician.

Do you feel the same way?

- I do, and I heard... And Diane used the word "privilege," and I would say it's a privilege and it's an honor, and I was probably that person you were describing with financial stress, you know, and not knowing how I'd pay for my education, but the one thing I knew is that if I maintain my curiosity and my kind of inquisitive nature, that that would really fuel me and fund me with the energy to sustain what was really difficult, and I think for my entire career, by listening to patients and their stories, that it inspires you through those difficult and challenging times, so I think it's the medicine to success, and being kind to people is always my message.

- Yeah, what the heck is the Kindness Campaign?

- That's a really good question.

The Kindness Campaign is about that... What I learned is after COVID and during the time you've described where fulfillment may be low and burnout may be high, that everybody wants to be listened to, and everybody's fighting a battle that you know nothing about, and if there's one thing in the world that anybody can be, it's be kind to other people, so for me, the Kindness Campaign means that I make eye contact with you and I listen with my eyes, that I listen with my ears, that I actually hear what you say before you speak, that I'm positive, that it's a difficult time for you and you're struggling with something in healthcare, and that I connect to you, you know, and that I connect in a way that you feel that I am kind, that you begin to trust me, and if you trust me and I'm kind to you, you really do what you need to do in order to get the best care possible, and the last... (indistinct) Physicians, and we have such a reputation about this, is being timely shows respect, just like washing your hands, people always say, "Does washing your hands have anything to do with professionalism?"

And to me it does, 'cause it means you respect your patient and you don't want them to get an infection, so the Kind Campaign to me is that it's the most powerful drug we have, refills are unlimited, there's no insurance clearance, you know, the supply is endless and the therapeutic index is really high, so I start with kindness and lead with kindness every day, that's the campaign.

- Well said, Dr.

Lewis, Dr.

Calello, let me try this, the other focus for us programmatically, and the graphic will come up, "Trust in Public Health."

How do you deal with the fact that there are a fair number of people who have less, particularly post-COVID, who have less trust in the public health system, less trust in our medical and healthcare professionals?

How do you deal with that knowing that it's not a job, it's a vocation, it's a mission, it's who you are at the core with some people not trusting, what do you say to those folks right now?

Particularly when it comes to vaccines, et cetera, like, "Well, I went on the internet, I found my own information.

I was watching a news show," which often really means they were... Saw something on Instagram or whatever, "So I don't believe you."

How do you deal with that?

- It's more challenging now than it's ever been, Steve, I think because of what you just described with the information environment.

There's information everywhere, a lot of it is wrong, some of it is right, and it truthfully... A lot of the experts in public health and health in general are busy doing that work and don't have time to populate the space with as much volume of accurate information as a lot of the misinformation or alternate information that's out there, but I think we must engage, we have to engage with, you know, people who are coming to us with information that we know to be wrong or inaccurate, and it can be difficult, particularly for young physicians, I think, to meet with somebody who believes things that we just know to not be true, but if we don't have the counter-communication, if we don't say, "Let's talk about, you know, why you think that," and, "Where did you see that information?"

And, "Why don't I tell you what I know?"

Sometimes you're gonna break through, sometimes you're not, but if we're not the other voice, then we're not doing as much as we can to really engender that trust in public health.

- You know, Dr.

Lewis, in light of what Dr.

Calello just said, you talked about listening, empathy, trying to understand where the other person's coming from as best we can, the kindness campaign, how hard is it to do that in light of what Dr.

Calello just said when you know some patients not only distrust, but are dead wrong and are potentially doing things, or not doing things as it relates to their health that is not good for them?

Quote, "You know better, you went to medical school, you went through this training, this is your mission in life," they pick something up... I'm not minimizing them or many of us who distrust in certain situations, but we should be trusting you more, but still asking questions, that fair to say, Dr.

Lewis?

- I think it's fair, and I think patients are just afraid, and you're finding them at their most vulnerable moments where they're the most anxious and they're looking for an answer, it's kinda easy for me 'cause I'm an anesthesiologist and you come to me often in an incredibly vulnerable moment and I can put you to sleep and you need to trust me in a relatively short period of time, and the way I generate trust in that situation, so if something horrible is happening, I may know that Steve is thinking about, "Am I gonna survive?"

So my comment to gain your trust in that moment may be, "Steve, I'll see you when you wake up in the recovery room, or tomorrow 'cause you may sleep a little bit longer than the OR," and I think it goes back to that guiding principle I have of, "I'm gonna listen and I'm not gonna judge."

That the patient has all of the answers, and if they have questions and they haven't been answered, I'm gonna listen to what they have to say, I'm gonna process it, and I may learn something that they may be right in what they're telling me, and there have been many situations with patients where I may have wanted to go down a certain algorithm, but they direct me in a different pathway, which is the pathway where they wanna go, which may be the right one for them, and I go with them on that journey wherever I think it's safe, but I think that both Diane and I would say that we're always guided by patient safety and helping guide people to what is best for them, providing them with information to help them make the decision with us as a team as opposed to me imposing a decision upon them.

- And by the way, speaking of getting solid information, on our vaccine awareness initiative, "Vaccines: What You Need to Know," the graphic will come up, the website for the New Jersey Department of Health, they have a section on vaccines, but I also want to talk about another place to get important information, the Poison Control Center has a 24/7 hotline dedicated to assisting residents with all concerns about drugs, chemicals, food and other poison exposures.

Talk about that, Dr.

Calello, we'll put up the website, why would someone go there?

- We are here all the time, the person who picks up the phone is a healthcare provider, We’re there whenever you need us with any kind of question, of course, our expertise is poison and toxic exposures and, you know, medication safety and things like that, but the National Poison Control Network, you know, we are the New Jersey Poison Center, but we're part of a national network, is really the... - And the telephone number's 24/7.

- Yes, it is, and the number is the same no matter where you are in the country, but it routes to your poison center.

- And who picks up the phone?

- Nurses, doctors and pharmacists who are certified in poison information.

They answer the phone, there's not a... You're not calling a big call center, you're calling healthcare providers, and they're there and they provide the advice, and of course, it's no charge, and I can't really think of any other way or any other entity where a patient could get real-time medical advice in that way, you know, in that moment immediately, and that's why I'm so proud of that.

- And by the way, ChatGPT has its place, but the Poison Control Center has can we say more accurate and better information?

- Definitely, without question, and you... - I just want to... (laughs) - Yeah, ChatGPT is... - That's not... That shouldn't be controversial.

- I actually feel like it has become a major issue even just in the last maybe, you know, six to nine months or so, I think, you know, there's so much information available from AI, specifically GPT, but others, and it reads like truth, but sometimes it is not.

- Yeah, talk about what you should and who you should be trusting, in the couple minutes we have left, I often think about this, "Oh, it's just a physician shortage," I mean, we talk about this with our good friend and colleague, Patricia Costante, heading up the EJI Excellence in Medicine Awards, we meet these young people going into medicine and medical school, and they... Who we have, I believe, 10 scholarship winners every year, and I think about who these people are and why they would be going into this profession, this... Not just a job, but it becomes a big part of your life, into the world of medicine, becoming physicians, what would you say, Dr.

Lewis...?

Who are the kinds of people in these incredibly challenging times who go into medicine?

- Funny you asked, this week's the first day of medical school here, so I got to see them all on Monday morning walk into the new Helix building... - Hold on, we're taping on July 22nd, how could this be the first day of medical school?

(Keith laughing) - It's the first day of medical school when they start, they just come in.

- Okay, go ahead.

- Yeah, so they walked in, and I think what I heard, 'cause we did bios on each one of them, all almost 170, is there are people who wanna help others, and despite all the challenges and the fear and the anxiety out there, have this overwhelming compassion to make a difference, you know, and I think that, you know, when I looked at medical school, I said, "I don't wanna just go there to be different, I want to make a difference," and what I hear is people with stories that have been around the world and worked in, you know, organizations helping the most vulnerable around the world, and others that have entirely different careers of being an opera singer in Carnegie Hall or whatever, so I think they're so attracted because it's such a privilege to think about it, to be able to take care of someone else's life and have them trust you, and kudos to Diane and her team because in COVID, they were there, they were the lifeline, the 24/7 365, someone answered questions no one knew the answer to and did their best, and I think that's why medicine is so alluring because we're always getting new information and it's hard to say we ever had a job 'cause we all have a career, and a career where we're continuously stimulated.

- To Dr.

Calello, to Dr.

Lewis and all the physician leaders that we've had and medical students that we've had as part of our "Tomorrow's Physicians" initiative, as well as our "Trust in Public Health," we say thank you, particularly thank you to both of you right now, and again... Once again, congratulations on winning the EJI Excellence in Medicine Awards in your respective categories.

Thank you so much, we appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- I'm Steve Adubato, we thank you so much for watching.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

PSEG Foundation.

NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The Burke Foundation The Adler Aphasia Center.

New Brunswick Development Corporation.

And by United Airlines.

Promotional support provided by Meadowlands Chamber.

And by BestofNJ.com.

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