Henderson County Physician Named To 'Super Doctors' List
physician named to 'Super Doctors' list
By Toni Garrard ClayDr. Doug Curran is everywhere these days. The longtime Athens-based family physicianhas been spotted in a few magazines you may have heard of, such as Newsweek andSports Illustrated.Through his longtime association with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, Curran appears – wearing his white lab coat, clutching a stethoscope and looking more serious than oneusually finds him – in a series of their print ads.While those ads have garnered him the most attention over the last few months, a less visible appearance in another magazine carries even more prestige.On page S-18 of December's Texas Monthly (S for Super), Curran's name is listed under the Family/General Practicesection of "Texas Super Doctors 2005."That's it. No big deal, right? Actually, it is.The physicians were chosen only after more than 45,000 Texas doctors, nurse practitioners and nurse managers were asked,"To whom would you refer a loved one or one of your patients for medical diagnosis and/or treatment?"Even more notable is the fact that of the doctors listed, only a small fragment have rural practices. Most work in Dallas,Houston, San Antonio and similarly sized cities.Curran takes it all in stride."I'm not a better doctor than anyone else here (at Lakeland Medical Associates)," shrugged the 56-year-old. "It's just myname recognition is out there."Several years ago, about the time his youngest child was graduating from high school, Curran felt the need to get involvedwith the legislative arm of healthcare. With the blessing of his partners, he jumped into the political arena.He's now active with a laundry list of state medical associations. In addition to serving as president elect of the TexasAcademy of Family Physicians, he's also on the Physicians Advisory Board of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas; and thegovernmental advocacy committee of the American Academy of Family Doctors, to name just a few."Doug has a vision for healthcare that goes beyond Athens and even the state level. He truly wants all concerned to cometogether and work for the best healthcare system in the world," explained Dr. Ken Lemmon, a friend and fellow founder of Lakeland Medical. "Many of us talk and gripe about things, but Doug jumps in and
does
something about it. … He's anexcellent voice for this community."Curran has testified before state House and Senate committees – primarily concerning Medicaid/Medicare and other issuesrelevant to rural doctors."Medicare will be broken by 2011," he warned. "I think the system is going to have to be more broken than it is now for things to finally change."His political activity hasn't slowed him down when it comes to seeing patients. It's still common to find him at his desk atnine o'clock in the evening dictating from a stack of 30 to 40 patient files."Internal medicine, family docs and pediatricians – primary care doctors – we're on the frontline and take it on the chin a lotof times," Curran explained. "We do a lot of things that other people don't want to do, like end-of-life care.|"When the cardiologist or the oncologist – or whoever – has done everything they can do, who's going to take care of the patient? We are."
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