In each issue of MD-UPDATE, we look for stories about Kentucky doctors and providers who are making a difference in the healthcare communities of the Commonwealth by implementing new technologies, innovative therapies, and research. The flip side is also true when we find doctors who have perfected their craft through the spectacularly ordinary practice of everyday medicine, treating their patients with finely tuned surgical, diagnostic, and listening skills.
We recognize that it is our profound privilege to hear firsthand from our Kentucky doctors how individually, and as a group, they advance the practice of medicine for the common good.
It is a great pleasure to present issue #97 of MD-UPDATE to you because it embodies all the elements we strive for in each issue. Our cover story on the UofL Institute for Sustainable Health & Optimal Aging sets forth their bold vision to basically make Louisville the healthiest and best place for adults to live and age in the U.S. How can you top that?
Led by a team comprised of a physician, social worker, nurse, jurist, and therapist, the Institutes “trans-disciplinary care model” has the potential to effect life-altering changes that will ripple across Kentucky for generations.
Our three stories on bariatric surgery and weight loss programs illustrate examples of innovation, team work, and the challenge of improving the health of Kentuckians. Each bariatric surgeon states unequivocally that surgery is simply one part of the solution. Patients are stakeholders in their health and quality of life.
Other examples of innovation are Drs. Rutherford and Ragland, who are rejuvenating the primary care physician model, and Dr. Deborah Ballard, who promotes wellness in body, mind, and spirit at any age through diet and gentle exercise and movement.
We do what we do because of what you do. Contact me if you have a story to share.
As Ever, All the Best,
Gil DunnPublisher, MD-UPDATE
PUBLISHER’S NOTE:
Dr. Darryl L. Dochterman, 75, passed away on Dec 20, 2015. During the Vietnam War, he served as a captain in the Air Force and became a flight surgeon. After duty, Dochterman and family moved to Lexington, Ky., where he enrolled in the residency program in Radiology at the University of Kentucky. Dochterman spent the next 30 years practicing at Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington and was instrumental in bringing the first MRI machine to Kentucky.
Send your letters to the editor to: jnewton@md-update.com, or (502) 541-2666 mobile
Gil Dunn, publisher: gdunn@md-update.com or (859) 309-0720 phone and fax