Meet Dr. Kálmán Zsófia (Sophia L. Kálmán), a seasoned Pediatrician who has recently joined the FirstMed pediatric team, bringing a wealth of professional experience with her. Her journey of healing, research, teaching, and writing, all in one, is a testament to her dedication and expertise. Read on to discover her vibrant career path.
How did your medical career begin?
For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to become a pediatrician. Although my mother, a radiologist, encouraged me to find a career that would allow me to be home with my family at Christmas, I did not take her advice, as being a pediatrician, I frequently had to work long hours.
After completing my studies at the Semmelweis University in Budapest, I began my career as a doctor in a residential home for infants with no families. Afterwards, I completed my residency at the Pediatric Department of János Hospital, where I worked until after passing my board exam in pediatrics. As a specialist, I was offered a job at Heim Pál Children’s Hospital in 1981.
Heim Pál Hospital was responsible for all the foster homes and residential institutions in Budapest, where the wards of the state were raised. This was an exciting and challenging job, because all of the children came from broken or dysfunctional families, and due to their disadvantaged background, many of them had severe behaviour problems. We were dealing with delinquency, early substance use, prostitution, run-away kids, violence, etc., on a daily basis. On several occasions, both the extremely young, 13-14-year-old mother and her infant were under my care.
With my family, we were living and working in the USA and Canada on several occasions. I always found something really exciting, with opportunities to learn a lot.
What led you to caring for children with disabilities?
My ‘marriage’ with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) began in Canada in 1983. AAC is a rather young area of special education and rehabilitation, offering help to persons with special communication needs (SCN). SCN appears if somebody has a severe speech disorder causing a communication disability. The causes are different: lack of oxygen at birth, traumatic brain injury, genetic disorders, progressive neurological diseases, etc. I had the privilege of introducing AAC in Hungary and establishing the first AAC center in the region.
Psychotherapeutic studies helped me work with families of children with disabilities (from 1968, my mentors were Péter Popper, Ferenc Mérei, and Teréz Virág). Since AAC is an interdisciplinary area (on the border of, e.g., special education, rehabilitation, pediatrics, orthopedics, neurology, occupational therapy, psycholinguistics, communication sciences, and IT), I tried to get a deeper understanding of it through further studies. I hold a PhD in psychology, have been habilitated in linguistics, and have a law degree.
I was the chairperson of the board of directors for two NGOs (1986-2016 and 1996-2015, respectively). The Bliss Foundation was responsible for the national AAC programs – teaching, educating, organizing, researching, etc. –, and the US-based De juRe Foundation aimed to offer legal protection against any discrimination and to fight for equal opportunities for people with disabilities.
You mentioned your passion for writing. Which are your most notable publications?
I have been conducting research in Hungary and abroad for decades, resulting in numerous publications, including books, studies, textbook chapters, articles, and educational materials. Perhaps the most notable of these are the books, Bánatkő (The Road of Sorrow), which aims to help parents who raise a disabled child in their family, published in its fifth edition this year, in 2025; a book co-authored with György Könczei, A Taigetosztól az esélyegyenlőségig (From Taigetos to Equal Opportunities), dealing with the complex relationship between disability and society; and the only original textbook in Hungarian about AAC, Mással-hangzók (Talking Differently).
In addition to professional publications, our travels resulted in best-selling travel books with tens of thousands of copies sold, illustrated with photographs by my husband: Levélcímünk Chicago, 60615 (Our mailing address is Chicago, 60615…), and Kanadában zöldebb a fű (Even the Grass is Greener in Canada).
Besides medicine, your other great love is teaching
Teaching has always been very important for me. Initially, I taught health care professionals (eg. public health nurses, preschool nurses, specialized hospital nurses), and later became involved in the continuous education programs for physicians, involving pediatricians and rehabilitation specialists. Currently, I am an invited lecturer at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Semmelweis University.
I held AAC courses at Bárczi Gusztáv Teachers’ College for Special Education (later the ELTE faculty of the same name) for 32 years, where I also developed another subject, titled Disability as a Complex Social Phenomenon.
My teaching activities were recognized with an appointment as Honorary Professor at ELTE in 2010, and by receiving the Hungarian Association of Special Needs Teachers’ Gusztáv Bárczi Memorial Medal for my outstanding work in the field of special education, in June 2025.
Presentation by Dr. Sophia L. Kálmán at a conference on single-parent families with disabled children.
How did you find FirstMed and what characterises your work here?
It happened by chance: I came across an ad for a pediatrician at FirsMed and applied for the open position. It felt like home very quickly.
Professionally, I am very pleased to work now with able-bodied, basically healthy children after decades of dealing with children with severe, multiple disabilities. Our present medical knowledge cannot do too much for them, so it’s a relief to be able to say that I really treated somebody effectively. In fact, the health issues of young children who come to FirstMed can usually be easily cured by traditional, conservative pediatric methods that do not require surgery or other major interventions.
My main approach and aim is to establish and maintain an empathic relationship with families. Even though the office time is limited, there must always be enough time to ensure that parents feel understood, involved and listened to properly.
In addition to acute care, I am happy to help children and their families facing specific physical or psychological challenges, such as bedwetting, behavioral issues, school performance concerns, social adjustment difficulties, eating disorders (a child eating too much or not enough), sleep disturbances etc. Of course, thanks to my past routine, I can also help children with disabilities, e.g., intellectual, motor or sensory disabilities, or communication difficulties.
What age group of children does your pediatric practice focus on?
I am most interested in caring for babies and toddlers aged 0-3 years because they are the ones who are least able to articulate their problems and express their feelings, and therefore depend on adults for all their needs. It takes a great deal of patience, empathy, and, of course, experience from the doctor working with the youngest children, as well as their parents.
These are those formative years in which young parents often feel lost. They are grateful for a word of advice, for attention. They need guidance, but it must be handled with care: it should not be used to undermine the parents’ fragile self-confidence, but, on the contrary, it’s important to empower them by strengthening their parenting skills.
Naturally I am glad to take care of small kids in kindergarten or school-age children, and I am more than willing to deal with teenagers as well, in this overly sensitive period of their lives.
How do you like to spend your free time?
Life is not just about work – in fact, you can only work well if you have a good, stable family behind you and around you. I am fortunate to have that, and happy to spend my free time with them.
My husband, with whom we have been married for 55 years, is an academic researcher specialising in cell biology, currently working mainly on stem cells. Our daughter is also a medical doctor, now a university professor, and her main research area is the relationship between family and society. On her side, three of our grandchildren are grown up; the eldest is now a psychologist, working in a psychiatric clinic. Our son is a world-travelling marionette artist, winner of numerous puppet festivals, but he also teaches at various universities for puppetry. And although his profession is far removed from the health sector, the social sensitivity of our family has also “infected” him: he frequently volunteers in children’s institutions, hospitals, foster homes, schools, and seniors’ homes. We spend a lot of time with his two young sons, 6 and 7 years old, thus providing a safe background for his travelling around the world.
In my free time, I enjoy reading and gardening. Together with my husband, we often go to concerts, the cinema, and the theatre. We also travel a lot; if possible, combining our professional trips with a bit of sightseeing. Oh, and we have been keen dancers for many years!
Welcome to FirstMed Pediatrics, Sophia! We hope you enjoy a long and successful career with us, benefiting from your extensive experience in our pediatric practice.
To book an appointment with Dr. Sophia L. Kálmán, contact us.