It wasn’t just because of modesty on the part of the late Dr. Jules Amer that we did not know of his many academic achievements in pediatrics (see the long list in this week’s obituary). It was something else: his focus on patients was so complete that nothing else in medicine seemed to exist for him. Dr. Amer was the proverbial old-fashioned doctor who cared about his patients more than anything.
If a patient needed a specialist, Dr. Amer found one. If a patient needed an unconventional treatment, Dr. Amer researched it. If a patient needed, simply, a word of encouragement, Dr. Amer gave it. He also gave out a lot of smiles and soft jokes. A pediatrician can be intimidating to a child; Dr. Amer was anything but. One got the impression that he went into pediatrics simply because he loved children.
This propelled him to enhance his field through research and enhanced training. But one never thought of Dr. Amer as an academic; one thought of him as simply doing all he could for his patients. If that took him far from his clinic, then it really wasnfar at all — it was merely an extension of his practice.
The truth is, we’re not certain there ever was that proverbial “old fashioned” doctor. But there was Dr. Jules Amer. We miss him. His profession misses him. May his memory be a blessing.
Copyright © 2017 by the Intermountain Jewish News
B”H What a loss! He saved my life. It was nice to know he was there to call upon, if anyone would need him. He didn’t just care that his patients should be healthy, but also that they should know why they should be healthy. For the sake of my friends who depend upon the staff he trained, I hope someone out there understands the wavelength he was on and can step in to fill the void. His example redeems the medical profession, in my opinion.