The Good Doctor
By Renée Gearhart Levy
We all know the common perceptions of doctors today: they keep us waiting too long, they don't spend enough time with patients, and worst of all, the fees they charge us are outrageous. Sometimes it seems the system has never been worse.
Indeed, health care professionals are under siege, driven by managed care systems and insurance companies to see more patients in less time, prescribe treatment in a certain way, while working harder to earn less.
But we all know the bad news gets far more attention than the good. Despite the complex problems facing America's health care system or perhaps because of them some professionals have found their own way to achieve personal satisfaction while making a difference in society through volunteerism, community involvement, and caring for the underserved.
On the following pages, you'll meet four HWS grads committed to helping those who need it most: two plastic surgeons who donate their surgical skill at home and abroad; a Florida dentist who established free clinics throughout the state; and a young pediatrician working with poor families on Buffalo's west side.
So the next time you're ready to curse the ills of the health care profession, try to remember the following: Somewhere, a child in South American is having his cleft palate repaired by the generosity of an American surgeon; a migrant worker is having a decayed tooth pulled; and an immigrant mother is having her children immunized at a community clinic. Not because the doctors are making money off of it, not because they're required to do so, simply because they want to be good doctors. Another Branch
Renée Gearhart Levy is a free-lance writer, based in Fayetteville, New York, who specializes in higher education.
This article originally appeared in the Summer '99 issue of The Pulteney St. Survey.