An everyday hero

For the last 3 months, I have worked 3 half days per week in the tuberculosis clinic at the Tarrant County Public Health Department. This endeavor is in hopes of fulfilling a required Public Health Practical Experience for my Master's in Public Health. My major duty is to see patients with the clinic physician, Dr. Weis. Additionally, I attend location-based screening efforts at local homeless shelters, occasionally administer "directly observed therapy" to patient's homes/work places/wherever with one of the outreach workers, work on preliminary research for an observational study investigating current trends in HIV mortality, and spend some time in the refugee clinic. Overall, this has been a wonderful and rewarding experience. The people that serve the public's health are dedicated, hard working, underpaid, and for the most part unrecognized. It has been a lesson in what it means to be a servant to the least among us and thus, all of us.

Because I am ultimately working to become the best doctor for the underserved that I can be, the most important part of my experience has been soaking in the small things that make Dr. Weis the best physician I have ever come in contact with. He is kind and jovial with everyone. He takes all the time that is necessary to make sure the patient understands the plan. He explains and shows every patient's chest x-ray, pointing out the anatomy and any lesions that may exist. These may not seem like extraordinary things, but be sure to remember that most of his patients are homeless or immigrants, ripe with unpleasant smells, addiction, illiteracy, and/or cultural differences that many doctors choose to bull-doze through rather than work within.

Dr. Weis is different from every doctor that I've encountered: He loves his job and can't imagine doing anything else. He cares deeply about a population that in my experience are quickly brushed over or excluded from care (not taking uninsured or medicaid patients) by many in the profession. He has never talked condemningly about a patient's vice, rather he tries to understand their hinderances for good health.

Last week, Dr. Weis performed his most impressive feat. A nurse who does the intitial processing of the patients comes into Dr. Weis's office and informs him that a well-known patient has just arrived. This patient is a Mexican immigrant who had been treated for TB many years ago, and recently became unemployed and is now living on the streets. He has lost a lot of weight and isn't looking very good. The nurse informs Dr. Weis that he doesn't have any money and hasn't eaten in two days.
Without any hesitation, Dr. Weis reaches to his wallet and pulls out $40, hands it to the nurse, and says, "tell him it's from you."
She is surprised and hesitant.
Dr. Weis elaborates, "Tell him it's from you or the health department or someone other than me. He's a friend and I don't want him to feel like he's indebted to me."

I hope I can achieve the patience and generosity of this amazing physician.