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Several pictures of doctors who are featured on the Local Legends web site

MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Eve Shapiro, M.D.

Picture of Eve Shapiro

Eve Shapiro, M.D.

“I wanted to be a doctor since I was six years old. I heard stories of people getting sick and then getting better, and I wanted to help heal them. I also loved science and working with people.”

NOMINATING CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Jim Kolbe

“DEDICATED CHAMPION OF ACCESSIBLE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL!”

BIOGRAPHY

"The most satisfying aspect of being a doctor for me is the flexibility I have to do many things because of my skills and training," says Eve Shapiro. "First of all, I can care for my patients, from adolescents to babies. Then there is my advocacy for accessible health care, especially for the poor. My goal is nothing less than national health care!"

No wonder Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ-8) cited her "dedication to the well being of the community" as one of attributes qualifying this "outstanding physician" to be a Local Legend of Medicine.

A native New Yorker, she and her physician husband moved to Arizona twenty years ago and she has been hard at work ever since, earning a well-deserved reputation as a fierce fighter for accessible health care. In 2000, as chairperson of the Healthy Arizona Initiative, she was instrumental in the success of Proposition 204, a statewide ballot which successfully increased access to health care for more than 200,000 working poor Arizonans by allocating part of the approximate $100 million the state receives annually from settlement of the nationwide lawsuit against tobacco companies.

"It's a constant battle, however," Shapiro observes of maintaining broad health care access. When not organizing ballot initiatives or speaking out about the condition of the health care system generally, she can be found at Orange Grove Pediatrics, which she has helped to build into a four-physician practice with an outstanding reputation for offering a complete range of inpatient and outpatient services, with a concentration on adolescent medicine.

Of life as a physician, she says "Medicine is changing. There are significant challenges, such as the cost and availability of malpractice insurance. But it is one of the most rewarding things to do!

"There is always a demand for doctors, so girls can work. It would be nice to have more women in medicine who see the goal as helping people to get better."

In addition to her private practice, Shapiro is a clinical professor of Pediatrics at the University of Arizona and is on the staff of University Medical Center, Tucson Medical Center and Northwest Hospital, teaching medical students and pediatric residents. and is a frequent invited speaker in the community on a number of adolescent health care topics.

Recognized as one of the Best Physicians in Tucson, she received the Woman of Courage Award in 2002, presented yearly to a Southern Arizona woman who has contributed significantly to their community. She belongs to the Pima County Medical Society, and has served both as a member of its board of directors and as president. She also served as Southern District director for the Arizona Medical Association. She continues as a leader in the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

A 1976 M.D. in pediatrics from the State University of New York--Syracuse Health Sciences Center, Shapiro completed her residency at Strong Memorial Hospital and Montefiore Hospital, in Manhattan, prior to being a Fellow in Adolescent Medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, from 1980 to 1981. She earned a Masters in Public Health from the University of Arizona in 2001.

MILESTONES

1979

Appointed Staff Pediatrician, North Central Bronx Hospital, Bronx, NY

1983

Becomes Director, Adolescent Health Clinic, Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, NY

1986

Joins Kachina Pediatricians

1988

Serves as pediatrician for the Tucson Job Corps

1992

Joins Orange Grove Pediatricians, a large, private general pediatric practice

BORN

1952

MEDICAL SCHOOL

Health Sciences Center, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

SPECIALTY

Pediatrics

LOCATION

Arizona