by Steven S. Sharfstein, M.D.
[November 1995; Vol. 22 No. 5]
Jerod L. Scott, M.D., died on Saturday, September 16, 1995. He was 37 years old.
I became acquainted with Jerod during his residency at Sheppard Pratt from July 1986 to June 1990. I was his supervisor, became a mentor, and eventually colleague and friend. It is a great personal loss and a tragic loss for all of his patients and colleagues in Baltimore and across the country.
Jerod graduated from Baltimore City College High School in the class of 1975. He then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in radiation technology from the University of Maryland and from there enrolled in Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, where he graduated in 1986. He was president of his medical class at Meharry. He spent the next four years at Sheppard Pratt where he distinguished himself as a superb clinician and role model for young psychiatrists. In addition to his fine clinical skills, he had a strong interest in community psychiatry and organization and management. He completed a six month elective with me on administration and did a health economics research project which culminated in a paper in which he was the senior author; “Entry-Level Compensation for Psychiatrists” was published in Hospital and Community Psychiatry in October 1991.
After graduating from Sheppard Pratt, he joined the staff of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center working in the Department of Psychiatry under the supervision of Dr. Paul McClelland. His reputation at GBMC soared over time as he provided first rate consultation and liaison services to medical and surgical patients, as well as care for patients with substance abuse. During this year and half time period, he was also on the staff at Sheppard Pratt.
He then joined the Indian Health Service, serving for three years in Winslow, Arizona, where he rose to the position of Clinical Director of a comprehensive community care program which included mental health and also general medicine. His leadership was recognized by many in the Indian Health Service and they were extremely sorry to see him leave in 1994. While he was in the Indian Health Service, he became board certified in psychiatry and neurology. He returned last year to Baltimore, his home. For the past year, he was Clinical Director of Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc., a program that provides emergency services to citizens of Baltimore, across the city, and was on the staff of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center and Sheppard Pratt.
Jerod exuded quality. He was a quality clinician and human being. His warmth and sense of humor always came through as he provided superior care to his patients. He had great insight into the problems of the inner city and of all individuals who suffer from mental illness and substance abuse. I will miss his insight and the opportunity for a former student to become my teacher—a mentee to become my mentor. All in psychiatry mourn this loss.
He leaves his wife, Wendy, one daughter, Jasmine, age 2, and host of relatives and friends.