PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF ALVIN CRAWFORD
Alvin Crawford, M.D., is a modern-day Renaissance man. A professor emeritus at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, he’s highly regarded for his contributions to pediatric orthopaedic surgery, treating thousands of children with spinal deformities. Crawford was director of orthopaedic surgery at Cincinnati Children’s for 29 years, retiring in 2006, and is considered an authority in minimally invasive approaches to scoliosis correction and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. The Crawford Spine Center at Children’s, which he cofounded, was named in his honor.
And then there is his love of music. He started playing trumpet in junior high school and studied music in college until changing course and entering medical school—becoming the first Black graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in 1964. In retirement he’s spending time again with his love of music, performing in bands and even teaching jazz history at UC’s College-Conservatory of Music.
Crawford is also a Vietnam War veteran, husband, father, grandfather, and now author, publishing his autobiography, The Bone Doctor’s Concerto (University of Cincinnati Press), in November. He was named a Great Living Cincinnatian in 2014.
We talked to Crawford about his youth, growing up in a single-parent home in the segregated South, his success in medicine, and a “full circle” moment as a music teacher at CCM.
Your amazing journey begins in childhood. Can you share some of the details?
I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, in a community called Orange Mound. It was the first planned community of ex-slaves in the country, and I had a great childhood. I knew the neighbors and the kids, and I didn’t have to worry about segregation. I went to a school where all the educators were African American; our community was all Black, and my family seldom went to town.
I was raised by a single mother and had two siblings, a brother and sister. We were poor, but I didn’t know how poor until later.
When did you get into music?
My mother worked very hard and instilled in us a deep appreciation for education. I started playing music in junior high and got into band; I had an ear for music and loved it. Our school had a strong music program, and I started in trumpet, moving to clarinet as a “gateway” to saxophone. I decided that I wanted to be a studio musician and got a scholarship to Tennessee State University.
How did a college musician make the jump to medicine?
Everything was going well with music, but my teachers assumed I’d be pursuing a future as a high school band director. I remember how much grief we gave our band director, so I wasn’t eager to get into that!
The idea of pursuing medicine was posed by my brother, who asked me, “You’re always looking for challenges, why don’t you consider medicine?” So I went to the Department of Physics at Tennessee State to take the prerequisite courses. The physics professor had heard me play, and I was allowed to pursue the classes.
In 1959, you just needed to do well on the MCAT and take a few prerequisites in order to get into Meharry Medical College [a historically Black university in Nashville]. The University of Tennessee College of Medicine at that time did not admit African Americans.
My mom dreamed bigger, however. She was a nurse at the City of Memphis Hospital, where she put a bug into the chief of surgery’s ear. He was president of the local NAACP, which had been protesting UT’s medical school to allow African Americans to apply; they always felt that none were “qualified.” He agreed to submit my credentials to the university.
I was ranked No. 2 at Meharry when I went in for the interview at the University of Tennessee, which was fairly traumatic, needless to say, and somehow I got in. To cover tuition, I joined the U.S. Navy as a health sciences professional student and did my internship at Boston Navy Hospital, where I made connections with professors from Harvard University. After a year serving on a ship in Southeast Asia, I returned to Boston to specialize in orthopaedic surgery.
Why go into orthopaedics, specifically pediatric orthopaedics?
I enjoyed the mechanics of surgical procedures and the research processes of total joint reconstruction and had been given a fellowship in the latter. I was lucky to work with top experts in the field and learned a lot. When I went to Boston Children’s, I decided I preferred working with children. Kids are straightforward and honest; in terms of pain, they just want to get back to playing. They don’t care what a care provider looks like.
As chief of orthopaedic surgery at Cincinnati Children’s, I made a point of speaking directly to my young patients. Today, a lot of them tell me I was the first doctor who talked directly to, as opposed to around, them. They come back to visit me today and tell me I was the first doctor do talk to them.
My major patient population was spinal deformities, scoliosis. I’ve been fortunate to lecture and perform surgery in 43 countries as a result of our research and development of spinal care at Cincinnati Children’s, the current top pediatric hospital in the U.S.
Were you still playing music all during this time?
[Laughs] Playing no, but practicing yes. The “80 hour” rule didn’t exist back then—we medical students had to work until the job was done!
After med school and when I got into my fellowship, I started playing in groups. Following my orthopaedic residence and training, I joined The Queen City Concert Band and UC Alumni Band. I also played in a group called the Wannabees. We were the best band in town—a group of musicians who did other things like P&G executives, UC Health professionals, you name it.
Music and medicine have come together in The Bone Doctor’s Concerto. What inspired you to write the book?
I’ve been fortunate to live a wonderful life, but it hasn’t been easy. What I wanted to do, and always hoped I’d live long enough to do, was to have some merit of success and document my journey so a child who looks like me or comes from a similar environment—Black or white—can have hope of success. This book is dedicated to those kids to give them hope and the reinforcement that, if they love it and work hard, they can make their dreams work in spite of obstacles.
You’ve certainly made it work. From music to medicine to teaching to writing, what’s your life like now?
In addition to playing and performing music, I teach a “boot camp” for junior orthopaedic and pediatric residents on the basics of orthopaedic procedures and tips on interacting with children and respectfully explaining diagnoses and treatment to their families.
For the last three years, I’ve also been an assistant instructor at CCM on jazz history—this year, the professor is taking a sabbatical in preparation for academic advancement and I’m teaching the class. It’s an unbelievable “full circle” opportunity in that I’m back to where I started in music.
There’s a saying that if you see a turtle on a fencepost, it didn’t get there by itself. I would like to thank everyone who has assisted me in getting to the top of that fencepost in my career. Without your kind support, none of this would have been possible.
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