A Conversation With Michael Greenberg, MD

Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?

A. What keeps me practicing after 43 years with no intention of retiring are the deep emotional and spiritual connections I share with my patients, many of whom have become a “family.” I do not think of my practice as work but a privilege. I get to go to my office with a clean shirt and hang out with people I genuinely like. At this point in my career, if somebody is abusive or mean to my staff, I fire them. A secondary benefit of the privilege of being a doctor is that I get paid well.

Q. Are an understanding and appreciation of the humanities important in dermatology and why?

A. I believe that practicing medicine or even living without an appreciation of the humanities is a hollow existence. If we treat patients’ diseases as issues isolated from their life experiences, belief systems, understanding of spirituality, or sense of self, we risk missing the true problem. Underneath all our medical complaints is a complex set of beliefs and fears that can best be addressed only when one is willing to look at the human condition. And the best way to discover who both we and our patients are and how we think and behave is to study the humanities.

Q. What is your greatest regret?

A. From my vantage point of a half century in medicine, I look back and see that the things I regretted either taught me the most about myself or were exactly what I needed to get to the point I am in life with a much greater amount of inner peace than fear and turmoil.

Q. Who was your hero/mentor and why?

A. My mentors were my father and my father-in-law. My father died when I was 13. Several of his friends and members of the community came forward to share how much he selflessly helped them. Some of them returned money he had lent them. I met my wife when I was 18 and her father became a father to me. He was the most successful Oldsmobile dealer for 30 years because, in his own words, “I never sold a car to make money. I sell cars to make people’s lives better.” After his death, I learned how much he and his friends raised funds to help minority students in Cleveland attend college or trade school. Both men died leaving a legacy of love.

Q. Which patient had the most effect on your work and why?

A. When I was a second-year medical student, I participated in a summer internship at a community hospital. The very first patient assigned to me died minutes before I got to his room. I was struck by the insensitivity of the staff in their comments and treatment of his body. I realized at that moment that I wanted to treat patients with dignity.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?

A. There are two pieces of wisdom I live with every day. The first is that everything works out. The second is that what I dislike (or like) in others is something I dislike (or like) about myself.