AMA Pride in Profession Awards honor heroes of medicine

From California to Somalia, four physicians practice compassion and commitment to care, qualities that earn them praise.

By Damon Adams, amednews staff. March 17, 2003.

With $5,000 from her parents, Wendy S. Ring, MD, MPH, bought an old pickup, hitched it to a trailer and started a mobile medical practice.

Driving along dirt roads, past giant redwoods and around mountainous curves in northern California, the general physician ventured to rural areas and dispensed medical care to the homeless and working poor.

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Thirteen years later, Dr. Ring still travels to treat the ills of the underserved, only now she rides in a converted recreational vehicle. Her Mobile Medical Office practice has grown to a staff of 15 with a second physician and a clinic based in Eureka, Calif.

"I never really wanted to be in an office. My primary thought in going into medicine was working with rural, underserved people," said Dr. Ring, 45, who has worked at clinics and treated Navajos in Arizona and the homeless in New Mexico.

"People thought I was crazy, and it's now working, so people don't think I'm crazy."

On March 2, Dr. Ring was honored for her efforts with an AMA Foundation 2003 Pride in the Profession Award. The awards honor physicians who are passionate about caring for their patients and who serve as shining examples in the medical profession.

During a ceremony in Washington, D.C., Dr. Ring was one of four physicians given the award, presented in association with the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative.

The other award winners were: Walter J. Kahn, MD, an eye surgeon in Red Bank, N.J.; Col. John M. Uhorchak, MD, an Army surgeon in West Point, N.Y.; and Michael J. VanRooyen, MD, MPH, an emergency physician in Baltimore.

Dr. Kahn was honored for performing eye surgeries overseas as a volunteer for the nonprofit organization Project Orbis. Dr. Uhorchak was recognized for risking his life in combat situations to treat U.S. soldiers. And Dr. VanRooyen was honored for providing humanitarian assistance to disaster victims, the poor and refugees.

Giving sight and instruction

Since his first trip to West Africa in 1984, Dr. Kahn has traveled aboard Project Orbis' DC-10 on 10 missions to countries such as India, China, Latvia and Haiti.

After the "flying eye" hospital lands at its destination, its patients have corrective surgery in its operating room, and local doctors are then trained in the airplane's classroom.

"A lot of patients are completely blind and haven't seen for years. They're just so happy [with the possibility of being able to see]. At the same time, we're teaching doctors," said Dr. Kahn, 68.

One elderly woman in Uzbekistan was blind in her left eye and could only see some movements with her right eye. Through cataract and cornea surgery, vision was restored to her right eye. She was able to see her children and grandchildren.

"She was crying. She was kissing my hands. That was a touching moment," Dr. Kahn said.

Providing care in combat zones

Dr. Uhorchak also provides medical care overseas -- typically in combat zones.

In 1993, the orthopedic surgeon for the U.S. Army was in Somalia when American soldiers fought and died in the streets of Mogadishu during a firefight with Somalis that served as the foundation for the movie "Black Hawk Down."

At a medical hospital not far from the fighting, Dr. Uhorchak treated the wounded U.S. soldiers. For his efforts, he was awarded the Order of Military Medical Merit.

Stateside, Dr. Uhorchak, 49, is chief of the department of surgery at the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., and is involved in orthopedic research.

"He's a phenomenal physician and surgeon," said Brig. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, MD, PhD, chief of the Army Medical Corps, who nominated Dr. Uhorchak for the Pride in the Profession award.

"I was sort of humbled to put a letter together on his behalf," Dr. Schoomaker said.

Giving care and getting captured

Dr. VanRooyen, 41, also has provided medical care in the middle of military conflicts. In war-torn Bosnia, he treated patients in a trauma hospital.

When Zaire was in political upheaval in the mid-1990s, Dr. VanRooyen went to the country on a medical mission.

But he and others were taken captive for five days as fighting raged in the streets.

"We thought we were going to get killed," said Dr. VanRooyen, who serves as the director of the Center for International Emergency, Disaster and Refugee Studies at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

A local doctor intervened on the captives' behalf, and negotiated -- and raised cash -- for their release.

Such dangers haven't discouraged Dr. VanRooyen.

Along with providing humanitarian aid in war zones, he has helped out during natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes.

Humanitarian relief "just sounded like the coolest thing in the world to do," he said.

"Most people aren't in a position to do anything," Dr. VanRooyen said. "I get to do interesting work and get this great sense that this is important."