DR . WHO
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT DR . DAVID DOERING
AUTHOR Kathryn Vance
Determined from a young age that he would be a physician , Dr . David Doering was ready to fight for what he wanted . Inspired by several great uncles who were doctors , he admired the way they cared for and about their patients . Ambitious but facing the customary financial and other hurdles , he managed step by step to make his dream his reality .
Growing up in Huntsville , Alabama , Dr . Doering said that all he ever thought about was becoming a physician one day ; there was never a second option in his mind . As a high school student looking at tuition costs , he chose , like so many of us have , to accept an Army ROTC scholarship he could use to attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville . While taking all the usual pre-med courses , he wanted to make sure to distinguish himself from other medical school applicants . He decided to pursue another interest , German . With that interesting degree in hand , he applied to medical schools across the country and was accepted at the University of Alabama - Birmingham .
One summer during his college years , he went home for his little brother ’ s graduation and met up with a girl he ’ d known since fifth grade , Debbie . While they ’ d known each other for years , they ’ d always just been close friends , and chose to attend the graduation together . The happenstance encounter must ’ ve been just what they were waiting for - the two began dating while he was in medical school and she was getting her Masters in Library Science from the University of Tennessee . Debbie eventually moved to Birmingham to join him , as he excelled through medical school . During rotations , he learned that he was just right for OB-GYN . After graduating in 1980 , he and Debbie married , and have now been married for 41 years .
After medical school , Dr . Doering was set to enter active duty in the military . At the time , there was no Match program for the
military , so students simply applied for the hospitals they wanted for residency . Because of rotations during medical school , he knew that the Walter Reed Army Medical Center ( merged with the National Naval Medical Center in 2011 and now known as The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center ) in Washington , D . C . had a great OB-GYN program . He thought this would give him the best possible training opportunities . The four-year program was tough , but rewarding , and Dr . Doering admired that everyone was treated as an equal .
“ In the military , everybody is eligible for care . The colonel ’ s wife gets the same care as the private ’ s wife ,” he said . “ You don ’ t have to worry about insurance or prior authorizations . You don ’ t have to worry about pay because you get your salary as an Army officer and then you just get to go take care of some people that need care .”
Walter Reed was the referral center for the whole Eastern half of the US as well as Europe and medevac planes would come in twice a week and unload patients . It was very busy , he said , but the fast pace allowed him to learn top notch skills in self-sufficiency and organization . During his residency , he realized that his true passion resided in gynecologic oncology , and he was ready to start a fellowship as soon as possible . However , he said there was an “ unwritten rule ” at the time that said you couldn ’ t go straight from residency to fellowship and instead had to do a utilization tour practicing general OB-GYN for at least two years . Putting his undergraduate degree to good use , Dr . Doering and Debbie took off for Heidelberg , Germany for the next two years . Following that fascinating complete immersion in the culture of Germany , the couple came back home so that he could begin his fellowship .
The fellowship program consisted of three parts : one year on clinical service at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda , Maryland , one year on clinical service at Walter Reed and one final
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