Preventive Medicine

By: Dr. Phil Aaron

After being in practice over 25 years – seeing numerous patients in the office, hospital and nursing home – it is a change to be able to prevent cancer instead of diagnosing and treating it.

One of my own specialties, “Preventive Medicine” provided the background to go public with groups of patients, encouraging lifestyle change-in this instance of a certain segment of our population-to prevent cervical cancer.

As we look forward-as we start the 21st century we are on the verge of witnessing many important medical discoveries. Effective treatments have been developed for many medical diseases (including cancer); yet this is the first time we have been able to prevent cancer through immunization.

But this will not be the last! Medical researchers across the world are transplanting hearts, lungs, and eventually brains; they are replacing worn out joints with metal/plastic ones; new medicines are available on an almost daily basis.

As physicians we are challenged to keep pace with these new treatments, these new medicines. We must be able to advise our patients what has merit, what is experimental, what is worth the increased cost.

Through the looking glass we see dramatic improvements, dramatic advances. Will we approach the time when our world will be disease free? Perhaps. As medicine and our population mature we must be ever ready to accept the new, replace the old ways.

With this in mind we have joined together to welcome cervical cancer immunization, and at the same time to recognize Virgie Claycomb who dedicated her life to advise, diagnose and treat women’s health issues. Thank you, Virgie and welcome aboard our adventure into the 21st century.