By Vanessa Orr
Dr. Maria E. Franco, a KIDZ Medical Services pediatric pulmonologist who is based at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, has known that she wanted to be a pediatrician since a very young age.
“I said that I would be a pediatrician at three years of age, and I never changed my mind,” she laughed, adding that she had been inspired by an uncle in the same field. “I believe that you have to have a calling to be a physician, and you definitely have to have a calling to be a pediatrician.”
Dr. Franco believes “you have to have a special heart” to do this work, because caring for children with serious medical conditions is never easy. Her approach is to not only treat the condition, but also to provide support for children and their families as they go through difficult moments.
“I became a pediatrician because I wanted to do something for children, but when you help children, you’re obviously helping the whole family,” Dr. Franco said. “The relationship that you have with parents is very important because they are their children’s advocates, so what you do affects the whole family as well as the health of the child. It’s very rewarding when you treat the whole family together.”
Dr. Franco — who has also served as the president of the medical staff at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital for the last six years — graduated from Nuestra Señora del Rosario Medical School in Bogota, Colombia. Dr. Franco was later chief resident in pediatrics at Crozer Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA, and then completed a fellowship at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. She is Board-certified in pediatrics and pediatric pulmonology.
In her role as president of the medical staff, Dr. Franco is in charge of 800 physicians who are just as committed to helping children. “Nicklaus Children’s Hospital has all the subspecialty programs that children need, and an outstanding, very well-recognized group of physicians who make a big difference every day in the lives of South Florida children,” she said. “Together we provide important and excellent care in every pediatric subspecialty.”
Dr. Franco’s leadership and experience also helps to train the next generation of pediatric clinicians, and she hopes that more physicians will go into the pediatrics because she has seen a worrying trend — both in Florida and nationally over the past decade. “Unfortunately, there are not that many physicians going into pediatrics, which also decreases the availability of subspecialty care,” she said. “As we see fewer pediatric subspecialists, it will make it even more difficult for patients who need that care to get timely appointments. We need to continue to encourage young physicians to go into pediatric fields.”
Dr. Franco’s passion to help children has also led her to participate in various volunteer initiatives. Though her work in the clinic and in the hospital keeps her quite busy, she hopes to spend more time on the volunteer work she loves in the future.
Dr. Franco served as a medical volunteer for Operation Smile for many years, where she provided pulmonology and intensive care services for children in Kenya, Brazil, Ecuador, Philippines, and Vietnam, including for cleft palate surgery pre-op and post-op care.
“I’m very privileged to do what I love,” she said. “But it is also fantastic to travel to another country and help hundreds more children; it’s rewarding work that I hope to do again soon.”
