“ OUR PATIENTS ARE OUR PARTNERS ”
“ OUR PATIENTS ARE OUR PARTNERS ”
“ Every patient I treat inspires me , because they are the most courageous people . One patient told me , ‘ I never lived until you told me we were going to fight my cancer together ,’” says Dr . Baker . “ After that , the sun came up every day a little bit differently .”
Dr . Baker ’ s philosophy about patient care is inclusive . “ Our patients are partners , and you must take the time to carefully explain to them their individual situation , especially when patients are as intelligent as Shirley Fautheree ,” he says . “ She ’ s lucky I had such great teachers . We stand on the shoulders of those who train us ,” he says , recalling his own training at Walter Reed Medical Center , in Washington , DC , where he completed his internship and medical residency in obstetrics / gynecology and has had oncology training .
Dr . Baker also acknowledges how specialty medicine evolves through the decades . “ Years ago , the goal of cancer surgery was to remove cancer and not worry so much about reconstruction . But that wasn ’ t really the right approach for the patient . Now you do the best you can to reconstruct the patient , so the person can get back to normal as much as possible ,” he says .
Dr . Dudley Baker is the chief medical officer at Scott & White Healthcare - Round Rock . sw . org | Fall 09 THE CATALYST 7