GUIDE: AMA MEMBERS ASKED TO LIST PHYSICIANS THEY WOULD PICK TO TREAT THEIR OWN FAMILIES.

Finding a doctor you feel you can trust can be more daunting than some medical procedures. So the Washington, D.C.-based Center for the Study of Services asked some 260,000 American Medical Association members from across the country what doctors they would send their loved ones to if they fell ill. AMA doctors make up about two-thirds of all the physicians in the United States. The results can be found in the “Guide to Top Doctors,” a guidebook available for $19.95 by calling (800) 213-7283. It is not available in stores, but is expected to be available later in local libraries. Robert Krughoff, president of the nonprofit group, said the guide is designed to help consumers narrow the search for a physician. The center urges people to research all doctors and check their qualifications before becoming patients, whether or not they made the book’s lists. Several in the medical field have applauded the center’s efforts to reduce confusion, but some say the survey used to create the list may have been flawed. Only about 20,000 of the physicians polled nationwide returned the questionnaire.

Several local doctors made the book’s list for the Greater Los Angeles Area, which encompasses L.A. and Orange counties.

The following is a select list of the top-ranked physicians in the greater Los Angeles/Orange County area, based on the number of mentions by other doctors. Those who drew the most, second-most and third-most mentions are shown. In many cases, several doctors received the same number of mentions, and they are shown as tied.

Also shown are all the remaining doctors in the greater Long Beach area who made the guide’s lists. Some doctors who practice locally but have their main offices outside the Greater Long Beach area may not be included in the list.

* Plastic surgery:

Other local doctors: James Black, San Pedro and Torrance; Donn Hickman, L.B.; Pearlman Hicks, L.B.; Jed Horowitz, Huntington Beach.

Time Is Donated By Those Who Simply Want To Help Other Human Beings

Last year Dr. Larry Nichter was in Denver, CO to attend the 20th Annual Denver International Film Festival. Interplast International, Inc., a nonprofit organization was featured in a thirty-minute documentary titled “A Story of Healing.” (See related story).

Interplast sends volunteer medical teams to developing nations to provide free reconstructive surgery to children and adults with deformities. Colorado-based Dewey-Obenchain Films produced the documentary after traveling with an Interplast medical team to An Giang and Dong Thap, Vietnam last year. Dr. Nichter was the leader of this team and the film company documented his trip — fascinated by his caring, nurturing and loving ways in which he helped the Vietnamese people to improve/repair their injuries and deformities. Not only did they document his trip but they followed him back to Orange County to get an idea of what a regular day was like with his patients at The Center.

Those who travel to these developing nations do so out of their own pocket. All supplies, equipment and time are donated by those who simply want to help other human beings, with no material gain. Travel to these countries can be exhausting but Dr. Nichter says, “The smile that I see on a child that I have just helped, the look in his eyes when he sees himself in the mirror — that’s all the reward I need”.

The film festival included 130 films from around the world. Our hats are off to you Dr. Nichter for your selfless efforts.

Interplast is a non-profit organization which relies solely on charitable donations and volunteers. If you would like to contribute to this foundation, further information and copies of this video are available by calling our office.