Seek to Become, Not to Acquire

Today’s doctors need to do more than just ‘walk the walk’. They must look and speak as professionals to gain patient trust. Every year a new group of college graduates assemble in medical school auditoriums across the United States to begin their four year metamorphoses. A short “White Coat Ceremony” serves as a transitional introduction […]

The Physician as Grim Reaper – The Ultimate Oxymoron

Confusing lethal injection with the practice of medicine is a fatal error I can’t understand the logic of state governments, on one hand, insisting that only physicians oversee lethal injection while, on the other hand, actively expanding scopes of practice for non-physician professionals. Does the government believe that it takes eight years of medical training to […]

New York Patient Safety Bill Would Try Physicians in the Court of Public Opinion

Proposed bill may unintentionally harm the innocent and discourage physicians from practicing New York State is moving forward with a proposal that will improve patient safety by alerting the public early when doctors are charged with a misconduct or crime. Currently, the public is notified when a physician is convicted of misconduct – a process […]

A Medical “Peace Corps�? Comes to New York State

Is Gov. Spitzer’s program the solution for New York’s looming physician-supply crisis?New York state has been in a medical crisis and Albany is just becoming aware of the issues. Despite years of warnings about looming physician shortages coming from county and state medical societies, New York legislators turned a blind eye. In their defense, constituents […]

The Blind Men and the Elephant

Everyone’s talking about reform, but who is capturing the true scope of our problems? A most endearing Indian parable, written into poetic form by John Godfrey Saxe, describes how six blind men, each touching a different part of the elephant’s anatomy, vehemently argued about who was right. The moral as penned by Saxe concludes: “So […]

Mark J. Lema, MD

Mark J. Lema, MD Professor of Oncology and Anesthesiology University at Buffalo, State University of New York Mark J. Lema, MD,PhD, is a Professor of Oncology and Anesthesiology, and Chairman, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, in Buffalo, New York. He is also Professor and Chair, Department of Anesthesiology, […]