Generation of doctors can't be replaced

From www.chron.com:

Feigin, a past president of Baylor College of Medicine, was one of the nation's best known pediatricians. A tireless advocate for children's health in Houston and worldwide, he grew Baylor College of Medicine pediatrics from a small, barely funded department into the nation's biggest and best funded, made Texas Children's Hospital one of the nation's elite children's hospitals and trained almost half of Harris County's current population of pediatricians.

It had been generally known that Feigin was battling lung cancer since late 2007, but he declined to talk about it publicly. In May, he announced he was stepping down as chief medical officer at Texas Children's Hospital and chairman of pediatrics at Baylor, but still wouldn't talk about the disease.

The news hit hard at Baylor, which last month lost legendary heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey to natural causes.

Feigin trained more than 2,000 pediatricians and pediatric specialists. Of those, two went on to become medical school deans, 22 became associate medical school deans, 10 became pediatric department chairs and 180 became section heads of pediatrics.

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The golden era of doctors who were also giants and humanitarians is coming to a close. Men (and the few women) like this cannot be replaced because younger doctors have grown up in the commercial shake your money maker era of "medicine." There is a totally different perspective and a totally different set of experiences, none of which contribute toward the making of a giant doctor.

A giant of a doctor did not even have to be "famous" in that era. For example, the doctor who delivered me when I was born had delivered more than 10,000 babies in his career. Yes, you read that right. This attending doctor at an upstate New York State hospital, who was an Army Air Force veteran of World War II, delivered TEN THOUSAND babies in his career.

I've mourned the passing of good and decent doctors from the golden age of humanitarian doctors for many years, and the list of those passing just goes on. Enjoy your tummy tucks, you sad people, who don't even know what you are missing. Now you've got doctors who aim for the ten thousand aborter prize.