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Let’s be honest. We all have an image in our minds of the perfect doctor. For anyone who owned a television in the early ’70s, that image is of Marcus Welby. The younger, more distaff among us might prefer John Carter. It’s true that with his boyish good looks Dr. Carter could charm the pants off a drill sergeant. But for those of us with heart ailments better cured by an angioplasty than by a romantic dinner, we’re more comforted by silver hair than by dimples. We’ll take Dr. Welby. He’s the standard against which we measure all other physicians, wittingly or otherwise.
First, as long as we’re on the subject, Dr. Welby looks like a doctor should. There is the silver hair, of course, parted on his left, always tidy and above the ears. This is the hair of a wise man. Then the eyes. When he smiles, Dr. Welby’s eyes gather into happy little slivers of medicinal beneficence. These are the eyes of a caring man. And his attire. Whether making a house call or seeing patients in his well-appointed Brentwood home, Dr. Welby always wears a tie and either a white lab coat or a sports coat, usually in glen plaid. These are the vestments of a professional man.
While his looks shouldn’t be overlooked, his bedside manner matters even more. He is highly interventionist and unafraid to bring a moral perspective to the proceedings. If a patient is addicted to pills, she doesn’t just have an illness; she’s doing something wrong. With nothing more than a raised eyebrow, Dr. Welby will tell her as much. He’s a bit paternalistic at times, but then a good doctor is, in many ways, a stand-in for our fathers. If he treats a patient like a child, it is only because Dr. Welby loves him like his own son. And, yes, he can be didactic. But he’s always right.
Finally, Dr. Welby thoroughly involves himself in his patients’ lives. Only Dr. Welby could have won the trust of that child who had to undergo surgery while remaining conscious. Only Dr. Welby could have exposed that unscrupulous funeral director who was preying on the relatives of the recently departed.
So when we need a prostate exam or, lacking that particular organ, a pap smear, perhaps, we all want to see Dr. Marcus Welby. But that’s not possible, now is it? Because despite what the thousands of people thought who used to write to him, asking for medical advice, Dr. Welby isn’t real. He was just a television character played by Robert Young in his hit ABC show from 1969 to 1976. Marcus Welby was a fictional, idealized M.D. who, truth be told, owed his early success to a good time slot that had weak competition from the other networks.
Bottom line: we’re not going to get a house call from Marcus Welby. No, nowadays, without a little help from a trusted friend or certain publication, we’re more likely to get an enormous HMO that will send us a thick directory of potential PCPs, each of whom, for all we know, is considering quitting his practice and getting into the Botox and boob-job game because he’s so fed up with malpractice premiums and all the paperwork the insurance companies require.
Here’s where the following list will serve you well. On it you will find some of the finest physicians ever to take the Hippocratic oath. Proven experts in their specialties, they are highly respected by their peers. If you should chance to fall ill, these are the people to see.
Our confidential poll was sent to about 6,000 local doctors. About 2,000 of those surveyed were family-practice doctors, general practitioners, and internal-medicine specialists—doctors who typically make recommendations and referrals. We asked them to whom they would send their patients or loved ones in each of the 31 specialties. We also made the ballot available online at www.dmagazine.com so physicians not included in our polling could vote. Only those with a valid Texas medical license were eligible. Because this list was designed with the patient in mind, we did not include categories for specialties in which the patient has little say, such as anesthesiology, pathology, and emergency medicine. Nor did we include pediatrics, which we covered in-depth in our July 2002 feature about the best pediatric specialists in Dallas. And we admit that some of the specialties we did choose to include are broad in some instances. This list is extensive but by no means inclusive. If you have a doctor whom you like and trust—even if he isn’t as endearing as Dr. Welby or as good-looking as Dr. Carter—we recommend you stick with him (or her).
ALLERGY, ASTHMA, IMMUNOLOGY | ||
Barbara Stark Baxter, M.D. Nancy Anne Finnerty, M.D. Elliot Joel Ginchansky, M.D. Gary Neil Gross, M.D. William Raymond Lumry, M.D. Gerald Clinton Moore, M.D. Michael Edward Ruff, M.D. Robert W. Sugerman, M.D.1 Richard L. Wasserman, M.D.1 Leslie Ann Weisberg, M.D | Richard T. Bowman, M.D. Todd M. Dewey, M.D. David Allan Fosdick, M.D. Albert Carl Henry III, M.D. Michael Erik Jessen, M.D. Steven Roy Leonard, M.D. Thomas P. Meyers, M.D. David Owen Moore, M.D. Melvin Ray Platt, M.D. William H. Ryan III, M.D. Wilson Van Garret, M.D. (also Vascular Surgery) Michael Alton Wait, M.D. Richard Eugene Wood, M.D. | Azam Anwar, M.D. James Daniel Boehrer, M.D. Melissa Moore Carry, M.D. Tony S. Das, M.D. Cara Anne East, M.D. Charles Morton Gottlich, M.D. Jerrold Michael Grodin, M.D. John Frank Harper, M.D. Charles Brooks Levin, M.D. David C. May, M.D. J. Edward Rosenthal, M.D. John Ryan Schumacher, M.D. Jack Lester Schwade, M.D. |
Robert Royce Cloud, M.D. Randall Wayne Crim, M.D. Robert Edwin Crossland, M.D. R.D. Dignan, M.D. John Marcus Downs, M.D. Edward Robert Franko Jr., M.D. Said Hashemipour, M.D. Philip Jos Huber, M.D. Robert Morris Jacobson, M.D. Warren Eugene Lichliter, M.D. Anthony Macaluso Jr., M.D. Narinder Kumar Monga, M.D. Floyd Clark Odom, M.D. Don Robert Read, M.D. Paitoon Tulinon, M.D. | Lucius Pinckney Cook III, M.D. Chris Wayne Crawford, M.D. Phillip James Eichhorn, M.D. James Henry Herndon Jr., M.D. Karen R. Houpt, M.D. Karen A. Lund, M.D. Martin Alan Menter, M.D. Jerold Dennis Michaelson, M.D. Dennis E. Newton III, M.D. Howard Alan Rubin, M.D. Jerald Louis Sklar, M.D. Lori Donohue Stetler, M.D. David Ashby Whiting, M.D. Daniel David Witheiler, M.D. | Stephen Louis Aronoff, M.D. Howard Zaven Hagop Chakmakjian, .D. Fred F. Ciarochi, M.D. Jaime Abraham Davidson, M.D. Steven G. Dorfman, M.D. David M. Feinstein, M.D. Daniel Willett Foster, M.D. Priscilla A. Hollander, M.D. Jonathan David Leffert, M.D. Mark Leshin, M.D. Samuel Philip Marynick, M.D.(also Infertility) Audrey Bettina Miklius, M.D. Julio Rosenstock, M.D. Richard A. Sachson, M.D. Mitchell Ian Sorsby, M.D. |
Leonard Michael Behr, M.D. Guy Lee Culpepper, M.D. Perry Edward Gross, M.D. Richard Honaker, M.D. | Michael Harry Allen, M.D. Paul Kenneth Anderson, M.D. Daniel C. DeMarco, M.D. Markus Goldschmiedt, M.D. John Kent Hamilton, M.D. Gerald M. Isbell, M.D. Rajeev Jain, M.D. Katherine Hardy Little, M.D. Michael John Nunez, M.D. Daniel Earl Polter, M.D. Charles Talmadge Richardson, M.D. Thomas Michael Rogoff, M.D. Allen W. Rubin, M.D. Armond Gluck Schwartz, M.D. John William Secor, M.D. William Edward Stevens, M.D. Paul Randall Tarnasky, M.D. Jeffery Scott Weinstein, M.D. Michael F. Weisberg, M.D. Steven Ira Wilkofsky, M.D. | Richard Scott Anderson, M.D. Ronald Aronoff, M.D. W. Lee Bourland, M.D. John H. Cottey, M.D. James Alan Davidson, M.D.(also Vascular Surgery) Howard C. Derrick III, M.D. Andres Katz, M.D.(also Vascular Surgery) John Walter Lanius, M.D. Janet H. Lieberman, M.D. Zelig Herbert Lieberman, M.D. Thomas W. Newsome, M.D. John T. Preskitt, M.D. Steven F. Reeder, M.D. Charles N. Rubey, M.D. G. Thomas Shires III, M.D. Matthew V. Westmoreland, M.D. John W. Winter IV, M.D. Richard Wootan, M.D. |
Ziad Haydar, M.D.(also Family Practice) Craig Rubin, M.D. Wilson Weatherford, M.D. | Sharon Bakos, M.D. Bernadine Bank, M.D. David M. Bookout, M.D. Charles Brodsky, M.D. Donald J. Coney, M.D. Ted Fogwell, M.D. Robert T. Gunby Jr., M.D. Eugene P. Hunt III, M.D. Richard J. Joseph, M.D. James T. Norwood, M.D. James K. Richards, M.D. C. Allen Stringer Jr., M.D. Kim D. Vernon, M.D. Kathryn K. Waldrep, M.D. | H. Jay Boulas, M.D. Thomas Charles Diliberti, M.D. Michael V. Doyle, M.D. Paul R. Ellis III, M.D. Marybeth Ezaki, M.D. Hugh Allen Frederick, M.D. Kenneth D. Glass, M.D. Earl R. Lund, M.D. Timothy G. Schacherer, M.D. Purcell Smith III, M.D. W. Dennis Stripling, M.D. David J. Zehr, M.D. |
Barry D. Brooks, M.D. Barry Cooper, M.D. John V. Cox, D.O. Eugene Frankel, M.D. Sherron R. Helms, M.D. Ronald N. Kerr, M.D. Robert G. Mennel, M.D. Roy Steven Paulson, M.D. Steve Perkins, M.D. John E. Pippen Jr., M.D. Michael A. Savin, M.D. Gabriel A. Shapiro, M.D. Jivesh Sharma, M.D. Marvin J. Stone, M.D. James F. Strauss, M.D. Charles L. White III, M.D. | David M. Allen, M.D. Nicholaos C. Bellos, M.D. Cristie Columbus, M.D. Edward L. Goodman, M.D. Howard M. Kussman, M.D. Marilyn E. Levi, M.D. James P. Luby, M.D. Bonnie W. Rawot, M.D. Steven M. Seidenfeld, M.D. Louis M. Sloan, M.D. William L. Sutker, M.D. | Samuel J. Chantilis, M.D. Brian Cohen, M.B.Ch.B., M.D. James Wilbur Douglas, M.D. James Donald Madden, M.D. John Michael Putman, M.D. |
Amy S. Anderson, M.D. William Mark Armstrong, M.D. Ann Carol Arnold, M.D. Mark J. Fleschler, M.D. Robert L. Fine, M.D. Paul Ewing Madeley, M.D. Hugh L. McClung, M.D. Paul Arnold Neubach, M.D. Stuart F. Owen, M.D. Jeffrey H. Phillips, M.D. William Gary Reed, M.D. Weldon L. Smith Jr., M.D. Martin Earl True, M.D. Paul D. Wade, M.D. | Walter Edward Beebe, M.D. William Albert Boothe, M.D. C. Bradley Bowman, M.D. Henry Gelender, M.D. Jeffrey Whitman, M.D. | Karl R. Brinker, M.D. Michael Emmett, M.D. Robert A. Farkas, M.D. Andrew Z. Fenves, M.D., F.A.C.P. Steven R. Hays, M.D. C. Venkata S. Ram, M.D. Steven Eric Rinner, M.D. Russell Lee Silverstein, M.D. Jeffrey R. Thompson, M.D. Ruben Luis Velez, M.D. |
Stuart Barry Black, M.D. Daragh Heitzman, M.D. Steve Paul Herzog, M.D. Richard Charles Hinton, M.D. Paul Windham Hurd, M.D. Herbert Irwin Leiman, M.D. Ellen June Marder, M.D. Alan W. Martin, M.D. Norma Bernice Melamed, M.D. Allan Leslie Naarden, M.D. Robert Malcom Stewart, M.D. Anna Siuling Tseng, M.D. Gary L. Tunell, M.D. Worthy R. Warnack, M.D. Jacob Norman Wolfman, M.D. William Smiley Woodfin, M.D. | David W. Barnett, M.D. John Vernon Coon, M.D. J. M. Desaloms, M.D. S. Sam Finn, M.D. W.M. Robert Hudgins, M.D. Richard H. Jackson, M.D. Martin L. Lazar, M.D. Jerry V. Marlin, M.D. Luis Mignucci, M.D. James A. Moody, M.D. Richard C. Naftalis, M.D. Duke S. Samson, M.D. Bennie Bench Scott, M.D. Richard L. Weiner, M.D. | William L. Berry, M.D. Grant D. Gilliland, M.D. Michael S. Harris, M.D. Dennis B. Kay, M.D. James H. Merritt III, M.D. Michael S. Milner, M.D. Gordan H. Newman, M.D. Norman Slusher, M.D. Craig Douglas Smith, M.D. William Bertrand Spencer, M.D. Robert Mayo Tenery Jr., M.D. Barry Wayne Uhr, M.D. |
Richard M. Dickerman, M.D. Robert Michael Goldstein, M.D. Goran B.G. Klintmalm, M.D. Marlon F. Levy, M.D. William Steves Ring, M.D. | John Adair Baker, M.D. James W. Brodsky, M.D. Wayne Z. Burkhead Jr., M.D. Michael J. Champine, M.D. Daniel E. Cooper, M.D. Carl L. Highgenboten, M.D. Robert W. Jackson, M.D. James B. Montgomery, M.D. Paul C. John A. Racanelli, M.D. Kurt W. Rathjen, M.D. Charles S. Rutherford, M.D. Robert R. Scheinberg, M.D. Richard D. Schubert, M.D. Wynne McCallie Snoots, M.D. | Evan Scott Bates, M.D. Daniel Milton Dansby, M.D. Bradford Allen Gamble, M.D. Gary P. Goldsmith, M.D. Mark Alan Hardin, M.D. Wayne R. Kirkham, M.D. Michael B. Kronenberger, M.D. Presley Martin Mock, M.D. John M. Moore, M.D. Fred Brian Robert Gregory Neal Rohn, M.D. Ewen Y. Tseng, M.D. |
Robert Lance Mary Culver Carlile, M.D. Fatma Gul, M.D. Arvind Venkata Peddada, M.D. Leslie D. Porter, M.D. Barry S. Smith, M.D. | John Michael Brennan, M.D. Joel Alan Holiner, M.D. Keith Johanen, M.D. Jerry M. Lewis, M.D. Jerry M. Lewis III, M.D. Michael R. Rosenthal, M.D. Gerald A. Schneider, M.D. Leslie Harold Secrest, M.D. Nancy Soll Shosid, M.D. Larry E. Tripp, M.D. Stephen F. Vobach, M.D. | Ken Allen Ausloos, M.D. Robert W. Baird, M.D. Timothy Betz, M.D. Robert D. Black, M.D. Timothy R. Chappell, M.D. John D. Hughes, M.D. John Michael Jordan, M.D. Mark W. Millard, M.D. Randall L. Rosenblatt, M.D. Wyatt E. Rousseau, M.D. Allan Neil Shulkin, M.D. Joseph Viroslav, M.D. Juliette Louise Wait, M.D. Kenney D. Weinmeister, M.D. Gary Lewis Weinstein, M.D. |
Evan Lawrence Cohn, M.D. William I. Dittman, M.D. Paul Harris Ellenbogen, M.D. James Mark Fulmer, M.D. Blaise Warren Jones, M.D. Bradford Frank Reeves, M.D. Cynthia Stark Sherry, M.D. Herbert L. Steinbach, M.D. Mark W. Zibilich, M.D. | Alan Lawrence Brodsky, M.D. Don Elwood Cheatum, M.D. Andrew Chubick Jr., M.D. John J. Cush, M.D. Allan David Duby, M.D. Roy Mitchell Fleischmann, M.D. Eric Ray Hurd, M.D. Alex Limanni, M.D. Richard C. Merriman, M.D. Dianne Lynn Petrone, M.D. Jack B. Vine, M.D. Scott Jeffrey Zashin, M.D. | Mark Lee Allen, M.D. James S. Cochran, M.D. Brian A. Feagins, M.D. Joshua K. Fine, M.D. Steve M. Frost, M.D. Pat Fox Fulgham, M.D. Michael B. Gruber, M.D. George E. Hurt Jr., M.D. Keith T. Kadeskey, M.D. Stephen Jay Lieman, M.D. John D. McConnell, M.D. Donald L. McKay, M.D. Mitchell O. Moskowitz, M.D. Robert C. Schoenvogel, M.D. Matthew L. Wilner, M.D. |
George Patrick Clagett, M.D. R. Stanley Henry, M.D. James S. Kohn, M.D. Gregory J. Pearl, M.D. William P. Shutze, M.D. Bertram L. Smith III, M.D. |
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