LocumLife - February 2009 - (Page 22)

friend, he was dead. So, I dressed my own wound and continued to fight. I administered first aid to several soldiers and also led an attack on one of the farmhouses.” Soon afterward, his regiment liberated a small concentration camp. Years later, the 95th Division would be one of the units recognized at the opening ceremony of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. “The conditions very accurately resembled what you see in the movies,” states Dr. Feldman. “The prisoners—not all of them Jewish—were starved and we saw “What has been dying. Whenwe were what was happening, so upset gratifying about the that we went into the neighborthe locum tenens lifestyle ing town and rounded upresimayor and ever y single is traveling throughout dent and marched them out to camp. dig the country and the graves We made them one the and bury each finding practically of t he people who had died every facility to be there. The sur viving prisoners were quickly attended to by very professional medical services. It was a very experience.” and up-to-date.” memorablethe end of the war, Dr. Around Feldman was at a French hospital recovering from surgery. “Fortunately, it was done very well,” he says. “My whole right thumb had been ripped off, but they were able to re-attach it and give me full use of the hand.” How did his time at the front affect him? Recalls Dr. Feldman, “I was in danger every day for a continuous period, and it was amazing that I survived because so many of my fellow soldiers did not. In fact, there were only a handful of men left from my original group. With the exception of soldiers involved in conflict today, not many people in their teens go through that kind of experience.” EXPERT KNOWLEDGE Upon returning home, Dr. Feldman immersed himself in the fight against cancer. “You could say I went from one war to another.” After attending Harvard Medical School, he trained in radiology at Yale University. “I noticed a bulletin board announcement about a yearlong fellowship in England where you could acquire skills to treat cancer, which were far more advanced than what we had in our country at the time. I put the proposition to my wife—we had two youngsters at the time—and she said we should go for it. So, I returned to Europe in 1956, and we lived like kings and queens because the economy had not fully recovered from the war.” While in Europe, Dr. Feldman decided to pay a visit to the Belgium village where he and his comrades had briefly stayed during the war. “I found the familiar house and knocked on the door, but no one answered, so I went across the street to a newer home that had not been there before. The young woman who came to the door was the little girl from the family—now a housewife living across the street from her parents. She screamed when she recognized me, and her mother—who was visiting—came running out. They told all the neighbors that someone from the 95th Division was there, and the whole town turned out to welcome us.” Eager to gain more training and experience, he and his family continued to travel throughout Europe. “We went to Stockholm, Sweden, which was the Mecca of knowledge in radioactive radium treatment at the time. Afterward, we traveled around Germany and Norway visiting friends and later went down to Italy. I would often stop at major cities and visit the central hospital to see what they were doing in the cancer treatment area. It was quite a year.” Upon his return to the States in 1957, Dr. Feldman began practicing at a community hospital in New England. “I spent 20 years there, building the first cancer center, which was fully funded and complete with everything. After that, I was www.LocumLife.com Advice from a road warrior Test out multiple settings to see which areas and types of practices you prefer Submerge your ego so that you ﬁt in as a successful team participant Avoid politics and administrative matters Share your individual qualities of expertise Establish a good interpersonal relationship with the patients Develop a degree of empathy Keep your knowledge current Maintain CME credits and computer application skills 22 LocumLife FEBRUARY 2009 http://www.LocumLife.com

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LocumLife - February 2009 Editorial Insights Contents From Nalto Stat! Money Matters Resources Last-Minute Luxury Opening the Door Med Ec-cerpts Winning the Battle Career Center Advertisers' Index Opportunities Direct Residency Corner Destinations Contest Rules Anyone's Guess La Vita Locum

LocumLife - February 2009

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