Posted by Bill Sandweg on 13 June 2016.

Often this blog focuses on mistakes by doctors which harm patients.  While it is true that medicine is a business and many physicians are more interested in the money than in their patients, the vast majority of doctors are in it for the right reasons.  We would be in very sad shape as a society if it were not for the many good and caring doctors who devote their time and energies to helping not only their patients but those in need who otherwise could not afford good care or have access to it.

There are many examples of these selfless physicians.  Famously, there is Doctors Without Borders, which sends medical professionals to provide emergency care to victims of wars, epidemics, disasters or just plain lack of medical care.  Many American physicians volunteer for Doctors Without Borders.  Many Arizona doctors volunteer on their own or through other groups that identify needs and send doctors to meet those needs.  On the individual level, there is the neurosurgeon from here in Phoenix who has gone to Germany to operate on casualties of our Middle East wars.  There is the Scottsdale spine surgeon who goes with colleagues to the Dominican Republic to perform spinal surgery on children who would not otherwise have access to it.  There are the doctors and nurses from the Gila Valley in eastern Arizona who travel to the Honduras for weeks at a time to treat the poor.  There is the Phoenix ophthalmologist who created a foundation to provide free care for those with treatable vision problems who could not otherwise afford care.  I could go on and on.

I have not mentioned the names of these physicians.  They are not doing this good work for praise, accolades or recognition.  They are doing it because they are good and caring people who have special gifts and abilities and are willing to share them.  While we may not have the same gifts and abilities, we all have something we can give.  The greatest token of appreciation we could offer these generous doctors would be to follow their example and give of our time and abilities to those less fortunate than ourselves.