When Bob Wittler came to KU School of Medicine-Wichita, he was the city's only pediatric infectious disease specialist. That hasn't changed in a quarter century.

"For him being the only one, it has meant a huge sacrifice," said Kathy Melhorn, M.D., a longtime colleague. "He never told anyone not to call him. He would deal with what needed to be dealt with, and that's huge for this community."

Wittler emphasizes the positives: "That's been OK because I have had a lot of opportunities to help people."

He enjoys playing detective, of diagnosing conditions that elude others. "It's always continuous change. Even though we're in Wichita we get cases of malaria and other unusual things, like tick-borne illnesses, particularly tularemia (rabbit fever). Sometimes we get Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Those are interesting because they're not the first thing other physicians think about. Because I'm the only one, they tend to cluster toward me."

Lindall Smith, M.D., pediatric intensivist at Wesley Medical Center, came to Wichita about the same time as Wittler. "He brought with him a wonderful knowledge about pediatrics in general, and about pediatric infectious disease especially."

"He is always willing to get in the trenches with you when struggling with difficult diagnoses," Smith said. "He has been extremely helpful with some amazing cases, such as malaria, botulism, naegleria fowleri (brain-eating amoeba), flesh-eating streptococcus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, toxic shock and Kawasaki's disease, just to name a few. His help in the cases was quite significant, and he rarely takes the credit for the amazing assistance he brings to the patient's bedside."

Raised in the Golden State, Wittler was an undergraduate there ("People probably never would believe that I went to UC Berkeley and had long hair - or even that I had hair."). He attended medical school at Creighton University and did his pediatrics residency at Letterman Army Medical Center in San Francisco, followed by a fellowship at Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii. His interest in infectious diseases was spurred by his residency director, a specialist in the field. Wittler spent over a decade in Army service before being recruited to KU in 1995.

"It's not a specialty that a lot of people are going into right now," he said. "When you have a big student loan, infectious disease is not the best way to pay them off, but I wouldn't have picked anything different."

Family is important - among his five children he has two granddaughters and a grandson so far - and so is his faith. His wife, Colleen, is active in their Catholic parish, and they take communion to a nursing home monthly, "an amazing experience." His kids attended KU and along the way he became a Jayhawks basketball fan, recounting being there when Mario Chalmers hit "the shot" and KU won the 2008 national championship.

He's 64, so questions of retirement come - from doctors, writers, his wife. "We just got our mortgage paid off, and that's a nice feeling. We really enjoy Wichita and I like the job and the people I work with. I'll retire someday, but I'd like to do it in phases."

Over the years, he's won teaching awards and served in many roles: medical clerkship director, department chair, residency program director among them. He teaches in a number of venues. Pediatrics and internal medicine/pediatrics residents rotate with him for many months, as do fourth-year medical students doing an infectious disease elective. He consults on the pediatrics floor and works with family medicine residents in the process. "I learn a lot from students. Sometimes they clarify things for me. That's good."

Wittler splits facilitation of a case-based collaborative learning group of first-years with Brian Pate, M.D., pediatrics department chair. "You get them pretty early in the process and get to see them grow. We're facilitators, so most of the talking is done by the students. We're there mostly to steer them in certain directions or to get every student involved."

"He's humble and that's his way when teaching. He doesn't come across as knowing everything," Melhorn said. "He lets residents, students, even colleagues put their thoughts out there. What are you thinking about this case, why do you want to order this test? He's so good at that teaching aspect."

Melhorn said she's always amazed Wittler can pull research results from his memory bank and cite them. "He doesn't give up. He just doesn't quit until he finds an answer."

Wittler also has a deft human touch. "He has the ability to talk to families in a very factual but reassuring way," Melhorn said. "He can guide their worry. When your child has some infection, you're thinking the worst, but he can put it in perspective."
"He is a natural teacher, to families, medical students, residents and attending physicians alike," Smith said. "And he practices what he preaches, so is a great example to students and residents.
Teaching and, by extension, patient care are important to him.

"You are really a magnifier. If you can make certain points with students and then they can make it with others, then you've done your job," Wittler said. "Hopefully then they feel that same joy from teaching others. None of us got here by ourselves."

"A lot of it is about the science of medicine, but hopefully the interaction with patients, the human part of it, impacts students as well," Wittler said.

"I get great joy when someone comes up to me at Dillons or someplace and says, ‘Hey, Dr. Wittler, remember you took care of my daughter or son?' and they're grateful. That's about as great as you could ever feel," he said.