Bauer, Raymond B.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 33 | Number 2 Article 13May 1966Today's Catholic Physicians' GuildRaymond B. BauerFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationBauer, Raymond B. (1966) "Today's Catholic Physicians' Guild," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 33 : No. 2 , Article 13.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol33/iss2/13sonnel, nurses and doctors. Tens of thousands of people are dependent upon . the _ mission for medical andma ten�!. ard. Coincidentally, in thelarge crtres of these countries is an overabundance of physicians, many unable to pursue their profession bec�use of a plethora of doctors. In­variably, a sum of $150 to $200 permon�h. would be enough to induce a�h_ys1c1an to serve the mission fa­cility: The poor economy does not per�It. the average Latin American phy_srcran to practice among the Ind�ans and support himself andfamily. _In specific instances, your com­mittee has referred such applications !or support to interested Guilds. It is too early to k now the result but the plan is worthy of consideration . As I see it, the problem is three­fold. �upply of medicine and equip­menkt �s obf. _utmost importance. This wor is emg done with bT b maximum a I Jty . Y su�h organizations as theCatholic Medical Mission Board dWorld Medical Relief. They dese::e o�r support. Of equal importance ist � n:e� to recruit young doctors,unmh1b1ted by the problems of th g_rowing �amily and established pra/tree, anx10us to serve in the mission field for long or short term· . . d Th per10 s. ere are several organizations ca-pable and interested. Chief among· these are CM MB and M· . D · · · · iss1on octors Association of Los Angeles The wor k of the latter group i�kno�n to you from a previous arti­cle I� LINACRE. However, as the �eed is great and the supply limited support an ind! ous physician to serve the missio .. f his choice? There could abuses; indeed, there may be, I wonder if the occasional abu: sufficient reason for doing noth,. The good accom· plished by y,n: Jllars (purchased, if you will) sl- . . far outweigh the occasional mi., -'n ture. Thus, the ·,, J ase of our prob· lem, the sub:, 'ng of indigenous physicians an:. �;-ses may be meri· torious in soL , for example, the problem of E: • D Prada, La Paz, Bolivia. The _ ·0p has established some six or mr. :Hspensaries in the poor parishes La Paz. He is re-ceiving some .. ply of equipment through the u�· channels. In most cases $80 to $; ., per month would allow him to · .· in the services of a doctor and r,. ;e for a dispensary. Are there no:: .. my Guilds in this country capab. A supporting such a plan? There are rn, "I similar situationsbegging for heir:- The Nation al Fed­eration is corr;n,i1ted. It needs the help of the i1,-:1,·dual Guilds to see fulfillment of i1, plan .. Each Guild can do its part °If a group is too small, let it join with another, pool its resources, cb what can be done for our unforiunate neighbors. A nation such as '.)UfS, enjoying 46% of the world's w.alth and one doc· tor for every 7GO people, must con· tribute more thac it is doing. We all share in this obligation. 'rhe National P·�deration, with the co-operation of Catholic Medical Mission Board is able to refe r  any interested Guilds io parishes in Latin is there some merit to each cle'!ery G_u!ld adopting a medical ;�_s10n, rarsmg funds to its capacity to· America needing support. It is not too late but, it is time!144 LINACRE QUARTERLY oday's Catholic Physicians' GuildRAYMOND B. BAUER, M.D. presently witnessing a re­period in the history of the Church. Changes in the use of it. In other words, God has been good to us, and we have the responsibility to reciprocate. How does this pertain to the Cath­olic Physicians' Guild? It means that we have to examine our conscience, to take inventory at the local and national level, to humbly assess our successes, to critically evaluate our failures, and to investigate our en­vironment to see what should be done and what can be done. It simply means to stop at times and ask "why" we exist as a Guild. It means dialogue with the Church authorities as to how we can be of service to them, to ourselves and to our fellow man. It means we should be productive of sound ideas as to how to help the medically indigent, the poverty-stricken, the culturally deprived, the children of broken homes, the "abandoned" inner-city parishes where the p�rcenta_g� of ed­ucated parishioners rs declm1?"�· It means that we should be participat­ing in diocesan, parish, a�d �om­munity activities and organrzatr?ns. It means we should not draw mto are abundant, the spirit of has become popular, dia­n the heirarchy and the reached a new peak, both and literary communica­the role of the laity has Oil new proportions. With participation of the laity, responsibilities iJ.rise, the being that the laity . must individual and group efforts to see if time is spent pru­to examine goals, . to assess and to see how efforts are to the overall efforts of the examination of the present t" reveals that it is not �ew." It has all been said and recorded in Scripture. interpretation, the concern, "action" resulting which is us. The truth remains that all sons of our Father, are and sisters in Christ, and will be judged by the tale�ts been given, and as to how these talents to help our man, both spiritually and our elite "comfortable" group who are immune to the hardships of others. ysicians, we have an in -responsibility. Although we to contribute our position lo just hard work and sacri-nevertheless were gifted not sufficient intelligence, but the opportunity to make You might say that all of the above can be done by individuals alone, without participating as _a structural Guild. Fortunately, this is partially true, and we are. all aware of the many good works car­ried on by individuals, and are most grateful for them. �ut _the Guild, because of its organrzatron aspects at the local and national 'level, can the Detroit '145 be"of tremendous help by sh . a community" of acti apmg by its bT on, and also each tah I ity to communicate with' .0 er across the I I t. I I oca and na What is hE: . h though a tten emng t en? A].events has be ,ce at s cheduledpointing, the r somewhat disap-" . Jnse to requests for 10na eve! N . -. h . ot only is action effi-cient w en performed as a r only because of th g oup, if of persons involveJ greater �umber comes " . , but act10n be-contagwus" "f are exposed t I mo:e. p�rsons b O an act1v1ty d ecome aware of the action's me;i:. a �unmebof thfehjustifiable criticisms ofer o t e p · h . is that they h arb1s orgamzations ti . , ave ecome, in add"-on to, or Instead f h . . I intended " 0 ' t e ongmally . personal sanctity" f t10n b I unc-, un a anced towards a " . I" get-t h SOCia . oget er, rather than a de . d ��tion organization. In other w:;Js m::ti:e m�e tin? more for the sake of Is th· g ;1th h�tle resultant action. Is appenmg to the C h 1· Physicians' Guild? at _o IC anJh: adl.realdy ov�rcrowded worke Ica meetmg s h d I physicians probably p cl ed u e �f from ha . rec u es this the limit�r:::g,d and judging from local Guild and� �nee �t the recentthe ph · . e erat10n meetings ys1c1ans are n t . , for the sake of meeti o _me�mg_ just are they meet" f ng, an neither " mg or the sake f personal sanctity " Th. o is reached f . ' Is conclusion the limited rtot mdmy observation ofa en ance at Hol M at St. Patrick's Cathedral d Y ahssAmerica M d. urmg t e ing in Nn ye Ickal Association Meet-ew or Cit (J the limited att d Y. une, I 965),cago Federatio�n�nc� at the Chi-ber, 1965) as lleetmg (N ovem-, we as very r . d attendance at our D . 1m1te tions such as St. Lui:�01t Io�al func­the Annual Gu "ld White Mass,Guild b d I • Retreat and local oar meetmgs. 146 action" activ.i ch ·, su as medical-moral lecture.; h young adult and sc qol age gr ,'S, performance ol pre-camp ar, re-school physical examinations, d 9 u es ts to provide me ical care foster children has been very gra.' ng. In other words, the physician ' ioday is nonetheles1 willing to pe ·m "actions,"· but isperhaps relu, ,t to attend sched·ule� meeting. rhe amount of time available is e� ,tial here. The above mentioned H , ties blend in more readily with ' physicians' training and ability, ," in accord with the present spirl -f personal involve· ment, and t' .fore, this approach is worthy o; ,1creased encourage· ment at th: ical and federation level. If, alo,, · ·with this a balance of more pun religiou� functions and meetin .-s ;· an educational na· ture can be sii ··Itaneously achieved, so much the b.�, ter. What are �,1me of the "action" a:tiviyes to wi·,ich a Catholic Physi· cians Guild ·:,m be contributing? From our e::p'dence in Detroit, I would like to mention just a few, a'":ar� that this ,s a partial record of a_ hm1ted experience, and at the same time hoping that other Guilds can s�are their experiences with us and stimulate further continued actions. FAMILY LIFE CLINIC The Family Life Clinic, under the auspi:es of the Chancery Office, be· gan Its studies over a year ago _to counsel married couples in fanuly �l�nning. About thirty doctors par· t1e1pate in this program, each spend· LrNACRE QUARTERLY two hours per month. The of this clinic is presented in this issue by Dr. John md Monsignor Sawher. ·MARRIAGE PROGRAM Marriage Program is being at a number of parishes t the area. This consists given on three successive the first by a priest, the � a married couple, and the a physician who speaks on md physiology pertaining . About forty physicians in this program. L MISSION PROGRAM common knowledge to a:ll of t the Federation sponsors a mission in Guatemala. Al­the major participation of is of a monetary nature, in year four physicians from spent periods of one month in Guatemala. This is also in further detail elsewhere Issue by Dr. Joseph Grady. DIOCESAN OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM gram, members of the local Guildperformed the necessary pre-campphysical examinations. With the vol­untary help of fellow Protestant and J ewish physicians, thi s  function resulted in an ecumenical effort. PROJECT SCOPE Through the cooperation of Sa­cred Heart Seminary, several local parishes and a small number of sem­inarians who served as camp coun -· selors, short term summer camp facilities were made available to approximately six hundred young­sters from the inner-city area. Mem­bers of the Guild performed the pre-camp physical examinations. HEAL TH AND PERSONALITY CLINICS Taking the cue from the Catholic Nurse's Association who have been performing a similar function withparochial grade school girls, mem­bers of the Catholic Physicians'Guild with the cooperation of theDetroit Archdiocesan Council ofCatholic Men and the Urban ParishCommittee, have arranged an educa­tional program for the parents andchildren in the inner-city gradejunction with the war on • the Archdiocese h as opened of educational centers for ers, utilizing the parish "ties in the inner-city de-schools, concentrating on the sixth,seventh, and eiglith grades. A series of ten weekly meetings are arranged, with talks being given on etiquette, dental care, hygiene, sex education, personality development,as well as on educational and em­ployment opportunities. The physi­cians have been chiefly concernedwith the two sessions on sex, onebeing given to the parents and chil­dren together, and a second beinggiven to the children alone. Ample time is allowed for answering themultiple questions of children in thisareas. Members of the Guild admittance medical ex­on close to two hundred this past year. IT DEPARTME NT OF PUBLIC WELFARE summer camp facilities available to about one and fifty children of fam­Public Welfare in Detroit. of limited funds available the expense of this pro-1966 age group. 147 It is hoped that this program canbe expanded so that high school students will also be included. and problems marriage, popt· ity, and relatr· ,·taining to sex in :on contro l, moral-c1bjects. CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICE OF WAYNE COUNTY Catholic Social Services of Wayne County is a large private multifunc­tion family service agency which offers family, marital, and personal cqunseling and planning for unmar­ried mothers, adoption, foster care for dependent and neglected chil­dren .  The agency has approximately five hundred· and fifty children placed in foster homes, and about one hundred and sixty of these are in homes in five counties surround­ing Wayne County, some as far as fifty miles from central Detroit. Through arrangements made by the Detroit Guild, physicians in these outlying areas (not necessarily Cath­olic physicians) have been a ble to provide medical care for these chil­dren; this obviates transporting these children to central Detroit for routine medical care. Not only is this financially advantageous to the agency, but is certainly more con­venient to the foster parents and also provides better care for the fost�r children. WEEK-END RETREATS MED .. CLINICS There are : ·ral free clinics for the indigent Detroit which are voluntarily s' d by �ath?,lic phy-sicians in th 0 spare time. These have a tren: ms impact morale-wise on a de· �ed area, aside from the fact tha . •dical care is sorely needed. Th( ,)St important thing to these pee: s for them to know that .somebo, .ares for them, that they are nc, .�otten. So much f, �amples. The ab01:e just touch t '• Jrface of the multi· pie possibilii. for involvEmen� of the Catholic . , ,sician. It is obvious that with th, ·Jirit of dialogue pre­v�iling tod& 1 .i 1e opportunities are becoming m� . ·1.bund�nt. T.he  are: of human :--· · .lions 1s crying fo educated pPr ,111el to offer a f� spare hours 1,, help the opp.r� , and needy. Catholic Physiciansl Guilds do h,. - c C:JUalified personne to offer in an/ !lumber of areas. Our past r..i:ional president, Dr. G P J Griff," stated in February, · · · • .,, · "No1965, LINACl'•-. QUARTERLY: . d' 1 Jil I·longer can w,' ,_.e ourse ves a s . vidual doctor:; working for our lim­ited 'personal croals but rather as 8h_ • that must potent organizat10n f . I - h ograms or play Its ro c In t e pr . f all the health and well-bemg 0 peoples." r In the same issue our Mod�rato h p MacK1nnon, Reverend Kennet · . ttern stated· "If in the changmg pa . ty. ' h h nd socie of .life for the C urc ' a does notThe current·trend in retreats is for increased lay participation in giving the retreat. Instead of the spiritual director giving all of 'the talks, lay men and women are giving talks. The request for participation of Catholic physicians is steadily increasing. The physician is par­ticularly suited to discuss with re- · treatants the basic knowledge, merits at large the Catholic doctor w' . t the ne offer the best solut10n ° h' re-problems awaiting his art, IS 148 LINACRE QUARTERLY and his interest - if he does - his . voice will be sup­b the· abnormal growth of lilft�ences in societ.y and t�:community will be t answer to the question �s to the Guild exists is obv10us. that we can make our a:lable to our fellow man ,. o our community,to our diocese, t . h s that1 . h lpmg ot er for it is on y m e 1 It is in- • ourse ves. we can he1p our brothers thatgetting. to kniw w God. It is onlywe begm to no we can loveby loving o_thcrs thhat in the Guildd We 1·om toget er Go . . k will become evenso that this wor d . so doing weff t. -e an m more e ec iv ' . . 11 together.will also grow spmtua y 3rd A�NU AL CONFERENCE. f Catholic Physicians' GuildsFederat10n o Houston, TexasDecember 8-10, 1966Shamrock HotelSessions will concernPROBLEMS CONFRONTINGCLERGY and SCIENTISTSPHYSICIANS, in HUMAN ECOLOGY149 

Today\u27s Catholic Physicians\u27 Guild

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Today\u27s Catholic Physicians\u27 Guild

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