About Patricia A. Keener, M.D.

Assistant Dean, Emeritus, Medical Service Learning
Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics
Indiana University School of Medicine
Professor Emeritus of Philanthropic Studies
School of Liberal Arts
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

Patricia A. Keener, M.D. has always loved children and determined she would become a doctor at an early age. Her goal was both straight-forward and ambitious: to provide leadership in efforts that prevent children and babies from suffering pain. Indeed, she has had an indelible impact on the lives of countless young people throughout her remarkable career.

A board-certified pediatrician and neonatologist, Dr. Keener is nationally known for creating the Safe Sitter® program, a national, not-for-profit, youth-serving organization that she founded in 1980. Offered in nearly 900 sites throughout the United States, the Safe Sitter® program has introduced over 600,000 young adolescents to medically safe and developmentally appropriate childcare techniques. These life skills are as appropriate for babysitting as for parenting.

Dr. Keener received her medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine and did her residency training at the Medical College of South Carolina. After residency, she returned to IU School of Medicine as the Director of Undergraduate Education for the Department of Pediatrics. In 1974, she became Medical Director of Nurseries and Pediatrics at Community Hospitals Indianapolis, a position she held for 17 years. A fierce advocate of the medically underserved, Dr. Keener left Community Hospitals in 1989 and returned to the IU School of Medicine where she worked in partnership with community organizations to improve care for often overlooked populations.

In addition to assuming the responsibilities of Chief of Pediatrics for a large metropolitan public hospital, Dr. Keener served from 1989-1992 as Medical Director of the Indianapolis Campaign for Healthy Babies, a public/private partnership that successfully addressed the infant mortality problem in Indianapolis. Sensitized by the Healthy Babies experience to the importance of addressing the socio-cultural barriers to care in the training of young physicians, Dr. Keener turned her attention to curriculum development. Her efforts resulted in a cultural competency curriculum. In a process as rewarding as the product, the curriculum was developed in collaboration with a small group of "grassroots" leaders from two inner city, African-American neighborhoods in Indianapolis. The product of this yearlong effort is currently in use at IU School of Medicine as well as several other medical and health professional schools across the country.

Dr. Keener's strong community ties and advocacy efforts for the medically underserved were instrumental in her successful implementation of a rapidly expanding medical service-learning program at IU School of Medicine. Among her many awards is the Indiana University Alumni Association Maynard K. Hine Medal. She also received the Ernest A. Lynton Award for Faculty Professional Service and Academic Outreach. The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative recognized her contributions with a Pfizer AAMC Humanism in Medicine Award. She received the Bynum Mentor Award; the Chancellor's Prestigious External Award Recognition (P.E.A.R.); and the Women in the Lead Award from the Network of Women in Business and Indianapolis Business Journal. She was a finalist in the Indianapolis Business Journal Health Hero Award and was one of six recipients of the Perham Indiana Woman of Achievement Award for Leadership in Medical Outreach. She received the Hoosier Heritage Lifetime Achievement Award and the Girls, Inc. Touchstone Education Award.

Dr. Keener has also received the American Academy of Pediatrics Ross Award for Lay Education as well as the Sagamore of the Wabash (Indiana's highest honor) for the Safe Sitter® Program.

A past president of the IU School of Medicine Dean's Council, Dr. Keener was awarded The J. O. Ritchey Award in May 2011 "in recognition of exemplary service to the Indiana University School of Medicine." She is the youngest person to ever receive this award.

Dr. Keener is the author of a number of medical articles and the author of Caring for Kids. This child care reference, filled with useful information and hard-to-find facts, was distributed to all Indiana families as a gift from the Riley Children's Foundation in honor of the 75th anniversary of the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children.

Dr. Keener and her husband Dr. Gerald T. Keener, Jr., an ophthalmologist, live in Indianapolis and have three wonderful children and three grandchildren.