Dr Patch Adams is awesome!

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I really like Patch Adams' philosophy!
From Gesundheit!Institute Mission Statement: "To bring fun, friendship, and the joy of service back into health care."
We should bring more laughter and happiness to ourselves, our families, and our patients.
http://www.patchadams.org/home.htm

I'll second that!!!

I only wonder... if Patch Adams could go back, would he become a DO?

I don't know, but Dr Adams is a really cool person.

Originally Posted by medicine1

I don't know, but Dr Adams is a really cool person.

I've actually heard opposite. especially people from where he lives. I've met 2 people that said he wasn't all that nice of a person and his story on TV is very "made for the movies"

What did those people say, virilep?
I would like to meet him someday.
I guess you cannot please everyone.
Thanks for your input DrB and Virilep.

This was made by a cool person... even if he isn't always nice...

The Gesundheit mission statement:

To bring fun, friendship, and the joy of service back into health care.

The Gesundheit! Institute is dedicated to upholding a radical socio-political vision replacing greed and competition with generosity, compassion and interdependence.

As a stimulant to broaden the health care delivery dialogue, Gesundheit! Institute’s mission is to build a hospital/healing community and provide care based on these priciples:

All the healing arts are welcome
All patients are treated as friends
There is no charge for health services
No third party reimbursement is accepted
The health care experience is infused with fun
No malpractice insurance is carried by the Institute
The health of the staff is valued equally with the health of the patients
The health of an individual is nested in the health of family, community, society and the natural environment


We seek to stimulate caring by encouraging grassroots, neighborly mutual support and personal activism through:

Lectures, workshops and presentations around the world
Nasal (clown) activism
House Calls Program: Doing it together!
Exploration of Costume Therapy as a model of developing personal activism
Maintain a neighborly presence in Pocahontas County


We aim to animate community health responsibility by assessing community health needs and resources, mobilizing and inspiring a right relation between these, and nurturing a snowball effect of activism that supports sustainability of individual and community health.

Pioneer, through research, the understanding of the implications of the healthy interdependence of personal activism, mutual support, vibrant community and world peace.

Conferences to bring together fun, creative, compassionate health pioneers
Nurturing activists

Gesundheit philosophy...

“Health care” is a term that refers to many different things here at Gesundheit! Eating healthy, organic food; drinking clean water; and breathing clean air are all a part of health care. Protecting the environment and the ecosystems we all share is planetary health care, because the planet provides all we need to thrive. Laughter, nature, music, and art are all health care, and of course, compassionate service based in medicine is health care. The Gesundheit! community in West Virginia is a vibrant microcosm of our envisioned healthier world. We believe that introducing a compassionate and fun-spirited community into our society, through the practice of health care in particular, will return us to the heart of the healing processæthe making of healthy relationships sustained by a spirit of friendship and fun.
A community experiment, the Gesundheit! Institute in West Virginia invites us all to live our philosophy of practicing thoughtful, intimate relationship to keep community, family, and personal well-being alive from moment to moment to moment. We are the ongoing process of living our words.

That is really nice! Thanks DrB!

As a future DO, I hope to bring this sort of grass roots philosophy to patient care. We need to treat the whole person... mind body and spirit! Future DO's... our mission statement is to be the doctor, teacher, and religious leader for our patients. Treatment of the whole individual doesn't stop at the prescription pad. Our duty is for the holistic health of the patients and community we serve.

Patch Adams spoke at DMU last year and it was fabulous. I'm not sure who the people in the post above were that said he wasn't a nice person, but I hung around late after his presentation and spoke to him for a moment, and from that conversation and the things he spoke about I believe he is a genuinely nice and caring man. He loves all people and has dedicated himself to improving the lives of others.

During his presentation he discussed the movie and said that while everything in it is true, it is all very much toned down from what really happened.

Also, while Patch is very much into healthcare reform and the way we think of medicine, he is about so much more. Patch is an idealist and is actually working for total social reform where everyone has clean water to drink and there is no rich or poor. I know that sounds kind of out there, but Patch believes in true equality among people and works toward it everyday.

Interestingly, Patch's doctor is a DO, and he is a big believer in the philosophy etc. Maybe he was playing to the crowd, but Patch pretty much said he would have become a DO if he could do it again.

Originally Posted by medicine1

What did those people say, virilep?
I would like to meet him someday.
I guess you cannot please everyone.
Thanks for your input DrB and Virilep.

both of those families were from that area (I work in the travel business) so I meet ppl from all over. but anyhow, they said that he wasn't like they portray him in the movie. there a lot of things in the movie that actually aren't true. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the movie and the philosophy. but i just didn't get why two people said this.

Oddly...I head similar things when I was down at Nova....apparently there is some discrepancy between how is was portrayed and who is he really is....

I was surprised myself...but then again...its all hearsay...so I dunno...all you can do is take the good your learned and push it forth in your own life

When he visited OSU, he was INSANELY LEFT OF THE FURTHEST LEFTIST I have ever seen..... He has great ideas, but was entirely hippocritical...

Made comments pro-freespeach, then turned around stating that particular people were idiots (worse words were said)....

My oldest child, 6yrs, went with me under the auspices of meeting the "real" Patch Adams, the first and only thing he said about the night was, "Daddy, who was that guy? He was not the man in the movie... I did not really like that, daddy"
We left early from the talk.... I am glad we did too.... We did stay the entire time that was allotted but could not stand to hear all the answers to questions asked, very sad night indeed...

Aside note, he did not come to OSU and talk about his movie at all.... he did this weird "love" therapy thing.... He did not even mention the movie, he recited poetry and spoke of "love" constantly...
Most of his notions are great....

For instance, he has a movie from the middle east that he had made... highly political satire, but otherwise, opinions aside, a great representation of what is really going on there....

But most of his application was a good step off the beaten path... I figure he must be a really motivated person by the things he is doing, but some things just did not sit well with me....

He constantly talked of the woman he "loved" and spoke of her as a partner, but never as a wife.... Kinda confusing is all, for someone to be so outspoken, but also so private about his less "known" views....

I would have much appreciated from him an honest portrayl of just what he did believe and why instead of the focus on "love" the oppressed and hate the oppressor....

i ve met him way back in 97 for a NYLF conference in DC. he seemed alright... didnt really do anything special for me

Originally Posted by DrDad

When he visited OSU, he was INSANELY LEFT OF THE FURTHEST LEFTIST I have ever seen..... He has great ideas, but was entirely hippocritical...

Made comments pro-freespeach, then turned around stating that particular people were idiots (worse words were said)....

My oldest child, 6yrs, went with me under the auspices of meeting the "real" Patch Adams, the first and only thing he said about the night was, "Daddy, who was that guy? He was not the man in the movie... I did not really like that, daddy"
We left early from the talk.... I am glad we did too.... We did stay the entire time that was allotted but could not stand to hear all the answers to questions asked, very sad night indeed...

That is pretty much the impression I got just looking over his website. Not at all the guy in the movie.

haha well, i guess some degree of dissapointment is understandable if you were expecting robin williams.

movies are obviously tremendous dramatizations, designed to make people or things "more real" or better than or "larger than life". but you have to realize that there was a reason someone made the movie.

its kinda like what the say about Kramer. the real guy, that Kramer is based on isn't as cool as Kramer from Seinfeld. in fact, most people would agree that Kramer is cooler than Michael Richards himself.

that being said, when they make my movie, they better make me seem better than i actually am too.

Basically, when we met him, he said that the only reason he made the movie was so he could make money for his hospital.

He said that he picked Robin because he figured it would make the movie popular. He then complained that he never got the money as promised, and commenced to bash the U.S. government.

On a side note, I thought the movie was absolute and total crap, so he would have to be less annoying in person than he was in the movie. If I had a doctor that came up to me wearing a clown outfit and a big red nose, I'd punch him in the face.

But, then, I was a film major and am generally very snotty about such things.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...812250305/1023

And Ebert says it better than I ever could...

Originally Posted by Elysium

On a side note, I thought the movie was absolute and total crap, so he would have to be less annoying in person than he was in the movie. If I had a doctor that came up to me wearing a clown outfit and a big red nose, I'd punch him in the face.

But, then, I was a film major and am generally very snotty about such things.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...812250305/1023

And Ebert says it better than I ever could...

Well he really does wear the clown outfit. He even wore it to the third world countries he visited.

Originally Posted by DrDad

Aside note, he did not come to OSU and talk about his movie at all.... he did this weird "love" therapy thing.... He did not even mention the movie, he recited poetry and spoke of "love" constantly...
Most of his notions are great....

For instance, he has a movie from the middle east that he had made... highly political satire, but otherwise, opinions aside, a great representation of what is really going on there....

But most of his application was a good step off the beaten path... I figure he must be a really motivated person by the things he is doing, but some things just did not sit well with me....

He constantly talked of the woman he "loved" and spoke of her as a partner, but never as a wife.... Kinda confusing is all, for someone to be so outspoken, but also so private about his less "known" views....

I would have much appreciated from him an honest portrayl of just what he did believe and why instead of the focus on "love" the oppressed and hate the oppressor....

If you read his book, it gives a good idea of his "leftist" views and his ideas of "loving". He also discusses his relationship to his wife, who is now his ex-wife.

Yeah, Dr. Adams has a lot of passion for what he does but his methods and ideology are not the most popular ones (to say the least). However, I will say that I really like his focus on establishing a community and having a community supported medical care system, a kind of grass-roots, look out for your neighbor kind of thing.

Hi all,

Regardless of the "true" character of Patch Adams, whatever that may be, the film w/ Robin Williams was one of my inspirations to become a DO (because what I heard about DOs sounded a lot like Robin Williams' style of medicine). So for me, it doesn't really matter what the real Patch is like.

Kinda goofy I know, but I for one loved the movie

raDiOnut

Philosophy and movie are terrific. I've met Patch Adams and I liked him. I like most people. But a warning to all of you, he is a "nut job." He is a class act. Wierd and I'm not sure his head is on straight. He is ultra "leftist." He is left of communism and socialism. He is ultra hippy plus ultra liberal. His views on religion are messed up, royaly. He has a lot of "truth" to what he says. If you like him and his teachings, be wise and very prudent as you discern what to accept and what to discard. People in our generation are not very perceptive. They typically accept what they are told as long as it sounds nice and accepting. Patch, great guy, a few great ides, but far from perfect.

I attended a two-day workshop headed by Patch Adams a few weeks after 9/11. I was disappointed at how disrespectful he was (somewhere along the lines of Ward Churchill). At the time, he predicted disaster if we invaded Afghanistan.

On the other hand, he did have some cool things to offer. Looking back, it was a good experience for me to be around someone whose politics I absolutely despise, and yet be able to still try to have a productive experience.

In short, Patch Adams is just a "normal guy", with some admirable qualities and some character flaws. Just like the rest of us.

I can only imagine what it must be like to be "PATCH ADAMS" kind of like a movie star, you have this great thing and you want to share it with everyone until pretty soon everyone wants in on it... Then you just wish you could go back to when it was a simple little idea that sounded nice.....I think anyone that gets blasted from all sides eventually becomes worn down and cynical no matter how optimistic you once were.....