How do you summarize 40 years? First, the basics. Anna and I were married in 1971, and have two children. Our daughter, Jeannine, 24, graduated from The American University. She is working in the marketing department of a major envelope company, and completing her Master's at night. Our son, Michael, just turned 23. He graduated with Honors, Magna Cum Laude, and Phi Beta Kappa as a history major at Yale, and is entering his second year at Georgetown Law School. He is doing nicely there as well.
It’s funny how life often turns full circle. My father, who was an attorney, convinced me not to enter the legal field. I convinced my son not to go into medicine, and he will be an attorney.
We have two wonderful dogs (Bichons Frises) - but they don’t quite fill up the hole in the empty nest.
Anna is a former pediatrician, now practicing Child Psychiatry. She is board certified in Adult Psychiatry, Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Forensic Psychiatry. Fortunately, she doesn’t try to help me. She knows when something is a lost cause.
I am Board Certified in Dermatology, with Special Certification in Dermatopathology. I opened my solo practice of Dermatology in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1976, where I am still practicing. Dermatology was the right choice for me. Its visually-oriented diagnostic paradigm made for a good ‘fit.’ I fell into it by happenstance when I took a dermatology elective in medical school at the end of my third year, and quickly found I loved everything about it
My In-Laws, Ben and Vladka Meed, have provided me with the proverbial experiences of a lifetime. They survived the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, prospered in America, and helped found the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. The fifth floor of the museum houses the Benjamin and Vladka Meed Registry of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, created almost single-handedly by Ben, who has been one of the leaders and organizers of the survivors. His wife, Vladka, a diminutive woman with a sharp wit, was a spy in the Warsaw Ghetto. Her book, “Both Sides of the Wall,” has been published in at least 5 languages – In Israel, the U.S.A., Germany, & Japan, with all proceeds going to the Museum. You may have even seen a T.V. mini-series about her and the Ghetto (“Uprising” - Nov., 2001). Her forged Aryan Passport photograph is a permanent part of the Warsaw exhibit in the Museum.
In 1983-4, when the grounds which were to house the museum were dedicated, I had the great pleasure of witnessing my father-in-law on stage with former President Reagan, in an auditorium seating over 10,000 Holocaust survivors and their descendants. I listened to days of testimonials about experiences to which no one should ever be subjected, & heard the message of the need for individual responsibility which these survivors repeatedly promulgated. This meeting and others like it, left indelible impressions upon everyone in attendance. What I did not expect was to have these proceedings dovetail with concurrent changes in the medical arena. These events helped steer me in the direction I took for the next 10 years.
Back in high school I was searching very hard for some profession with intrinsic value – something that really mattered, and chose a medical career at the ‘eleventh hour.’ Medicine still qualifies, in spite of all the changes it has undergone. [When I was 17 (my last year at Weequahic), I went to an old G.P. for allergy ‘shots.’ I will always recall him telling me how “They want to Socialize Medicine. It will destroy incentive.” I couldn’t conceptualize his message then – but I fully understand it now. He was so right.] Even though Government meddling and insurance practices have undermined the personal relationship and incentives which are the underpinnings of the Private Practice of Medicine, it remains a worthwhile endeavor.
In 1984, “Big Brother” instituted a prospective payment system for hospital care of Medicare patients. I began to hear stories from my colleagues about rationed and suboptimal treatment. Having recently attended the meeting of Holocaust Survivors, in D.C., I was motivated to try to ‘educate’ our local politicians about the problem (yes – I was very naïve). Never having been a public speaker, I embarked upon a course of local political activism, speaking and writing, which eventually brought me into contact with The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). This is a group of physicians devoted to maintaining the private practice of medicine and the personal relationship between doctor and patient.
Coincidentally, the AAPS was organized about the same time that the Warsaw Ghetto uprising was taking place (another one of those peculiar intertwinings and concurrences). After a couple of years with this group I became one of 17 board members. Little did I realize we would eventually sue the Clinton Health Care Task Force, doing our part to help prevent Socialized Medicine and the Universally rationed care that Universal “coverage” would really mean. Private care, outside of ‘the system,’ would have been outlawed by the Clinton Plan.
In the middle of the Lawsuit the Government attempted to ‘settle.’ Our group became hotly divided, and was in danger of falling apart. In an effort to gain time, I asked our attorney a question, trying to delay the immediate decision he was requesting of us during a conference call involving all the members of the board. To our amazement, he quit on the spot. We did not settle, hired a new attorney, and kept the Clinton Plan from gaining the ‘momentum’ it needed to pass. The rest is history. But beware – our government is intent on foisting socialized medicine upon us. My belief is that a One Size Fits All Health Care System will fit no one.
During Internship, as well as in private practice, I was fortunate enough to treat a number of interesting people. My wife often jokes about how I come close to treating celebrities. Since the inception of practice, I have treated Nancy Reagan’s father, two former Governors of Arizona, Johnny Carson’s mother, & Robert Mitchum’s wife, mother and sister.
Sometimes celebrities and the very wealthy can be the most difficult patients. I distinctly recall one Canadian Millionaire, who became angry following a political discussion about the ‘merits’ of socialized medicine. He walked out of the office in a huff when I charged him a minor fee after a checkup for the medical treatment of precancerous facial growths. As he left the office, complaining about the small bill, he bragged about the million dollar deal he was about to close!
At times, the people you treat can furnish you with wonderful memories that last a lifetime. One such person was Willie ‘the Lion’ Smith, a black Jazz (‘Stride’) pianist from Newark, who became a patient during my Medical Internship. Willie was a contemporary of Lucky Johnson and (the better known) Fats Waller. It was a privilege to learn of him and speak to him.
I have written a 400 page book about patients I have known over the years. It will probably never be published. I have had a handful of poems published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Over the years I had kept up my interest in music, playing the clarinet in a local concert band, and then the saxophone in the same community college daytime jazz ensemble, eventually being promoted to lead alto (this was the Student DAY band – not the pro’s). When, a few years ago, it became too difficult to run downtown during lunch hour three days a week to practice with the band, then running back to the office to practice medicine, I searched for another venue. It was at that time that I began to take my longstanding hobby of photography much more seriously.
My interest in photography dates back to age 10 as a ‘snapshooter.’ Since enrolling in a studio course in Large Format photography at a local community college three years ago this interest has burgeoned. My ‘classmates’ are wonderfully talented and varied (a 75 year old retired neurologist & a practicing endodontist among them). They produce marvelous black and white prints, and provide excellent examples to emulate. It is a hobby that will hopefully serve well when retirement eventually arrives. Among other things, a photograph serves to furnish a temporary ‘hold’ on the entropy that rules the universe and our ever changing lives. It is a “Still Point in the Turning World,” and something to be treasured.
Life presents us with doorway after doorway. If only we could venture through them all. I hope your adventures have been rewarding.
My hope is that my greatest accomplishment over the past 40 years has been to impart a set of solid values to my children, and to leave them some photographs that they might treasure some day.
Warmest regards to all, Joe Scherzer. My e-mail address is JoeShrzr@aol.com
