I have an appointment for my annual exam with a doctor who has been seeing me since 1983 (he was the park dive physician when I was an active SCUBA diver) and he knows me well, both my medical history and my lifestyle choices, as well as my end of life concerns. I don't pick doctors at random.

My annual physical last year resulted in a major procedure from which I am fully recovered, thanks to Ed's choice of the doctors to which I was referred. All in all it was a very positive experience.

Any of us bears the ultimate responsibility for our health and well being, particularly through our life style choices, as well as the strategic and tactical decisions made as we face medical situations. A good doctor who knows us well is a valued partner in choosing good courses of action. That kind of doctor is less likely to pop pills just so they can get to the next case.

In my mid 70s, the only medication i take is a daily baby aspirin. That is the result of good physician choice, reasonable lifestyle decisions, decent fenetics, and dumb luck.