Last week Steven Goldberg (no relation), a former student of mine at the University of Miami School of Medicine, passed away of lymphoma at the age of 42. After 25 years of my teaching at the U of M, his name stands out in my mind, not because of similarity of name, but because of his brilliance and character. He was a true mensch.
Steve was born with transposition of the arteries, which required surgical correction. When he advanced in medicine, his goal was to become a pediatric cardiac surgeon and offer to other children what had been provided to him. He did just that, training at the same institution that had operated upon him as a child. He specialized in difficult cardiac procedures in children, including the kind of congenital defect that he had, as well as cardiac transplantation.
You can gain a better glimpse of his character through the YouTube video he prepared for LeBonheur Children’s Hospital last year. Within only a few days of his passing, there were hundreds of facebook postings by people whose lives he had touched.
Steve was also a skilled artist who illustrated significant parts of my books on Clinical Physiology Made Ridiculously Simple and Med’Toons. Here are three of my favorite cartoons that he drew:
From Clinical Physiology Made Ridiculously Simple, by Stephen Goldberg, Medmaster
Steve will be greatly missed. He was the personification of the ideal physician.
MedMaster 
Thank you for posting this, I am a student at Miami now and hearing about Dr. Steven Goldberg’s life is a big encouragement to me.
I know I am reading this so many years later, but I had to leave a comment. I was a graduate student in pharmacology and took a couple of classes with Steven Goldberg while he was in his second year of medical school. After all these years, I still remember him because he was brilliant and such a kind person. He was always available to help any student who was confused, using illustrations to give his explanations. This has saddened me greatly!