Welcome to The Ghost of Sherman T. Potter Blog. Why, you might ask, did I choose to name my blog after Colonel Potter from M*A*S*H? For starters, M*A*S*H was my favorite television show growing up. It was a Monday night tradition for me for as long as it was on the air. At that time, my favorite character was Hawkeye Pierce; however, as I have gotten older, the character whom I have come to love and admire more than any other is Colonel Potter. In life, I have ended up a lot more like B.J. Honeycutt than I have Hawkeye, but it is Colonel Potter who inspires me. Potter was "Old School." He willingly served his country through three wars, was a skilled leader, a skilled surgeon, and best of all a wise and caring gentleman. Hawkeye was the wise-cracking idealist, B.J. the straight man, Winchester the pompous blue-blood, Trapper John the boisterous party guy, and Burns the goof-ball; but Sherman T. Potter was and--at least in my mind--is the standard-setter.
Colonel Potter led the men and women of the 4077th with common sense and the wisdom of his experience. He knew his people, their strengths and weaknesses, and he knew how to get the best out of them. He made his assignments based on the surgeon with the best expertise for the case, and not based on whether or not he liked that man's personality. Being career army, he was a by-the-book rule follower, but he would occasionally allow his surgeons to push the envelope when it meant doing the morally right thing. He was calm under fire, confident in his demeanor, and commanded with a sense of steady urgency. He was flexible and fair, but was not afraid to get gruff and tough with his chargees whenever it became necessary. Above all, at the end of the day, Colonel Potter loved the people with whom he served like family. It is a good thing that he is a fictional character, because such a resume would be tough for the average mortal like me to compile.
Colonel Potter was a steady and skilled surgeon who adeptly followed the science and accepted standards of care of the day; however, he was never so arrogant as to think that he knew everything. He maintained a capacity and a willingness to learn new things, and allowed his crew to exercise creativity in performing new procedures that had never been tried before. He allowed the operating room to be a casual environment, allowing jokes and banter to break the monotony, but he also knew when it was time to be serious and made sure that everyone understood the gravity of the moment. Even though he was a surgeon with a tough exterior, he understood the human side of his practice, and he knew people well enough that he could sense when something was amiss. Colonel Potter would take the time to talk to his patients about their lives, who they were, and what their fears were. He took care of not only his patients but also those under his command who needed nurturing at times when they were getting burned out from seeing so much human suffering. When Sherman Potter was scrubbed in, it did not matter if the person on his table was an American private, a South Korean general, a North Korean spy, or a Chinese prisoner of war. He took care of all comers, and he did it without a second thought, because he was a physician first and foremost. He did his duty and he did it well.
Finally, Colonel Potter was a god-fearing, horse-riding, Mildred-loving husband who was not ashamed to show his human side. Throughout the series, his character stressed his love for his wife back home, and how important it was for him to return home to her at the end of the war. At times, he was a soft-spoken father-figure, but could erupt like a volcano when someone or something had trampled on his last nerve. He had interests outside of medicine, and took leave of the stresses of death and responsibilities of his command by taking care of, and riding, his horse, Sophie. He also had an artistic side, and enjoyed listening to jazz music from an earlier era as well as painting various people and scenes from around the camp. Through it all, he was not afraid to be himself. He was a self-described "old country doc" who became famous for his quips, such as "What in the name of Sweet Fanny Adams happened here?" that have become known as "Potter-isms." He knew people, he knew himself, he knew what the right thing to do was, and when the situation called for it, he did it.
I have been extremely fortunate to have run across two "Col. Sherman Potters" in my medical career. The first was a no-nonsense, twenty-year army veteran named Dr. Oneill Barrett, who served as chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine during my four years there. He was, interestingly enough, often referred to as "the Colonel" and won the Teacher-of-the-Year award so many times that the award was eventually named in his honor. He was the man who aptly advised us to "listen to the patient. They'll tell you what's wrong with them." It is advice that I have heeded, and also passed along to the medical students who have rotated with me in my office. The second was Dr. Chester T. Stafford, one of my mentors at the Medical College of Georgia. Also an army veteran, Dr. Stafford served as chief of Allergy in Frankfurt, Germany, as well as Forts Benning and Gordon in Georgia. Always a gentleman, Dr. Stafford taught me common sense clinical allergy, but also set an example of how to be a good husband and father while also being an excellent clinician and educator.
My blog will be my own—my thoughts, my opinions, my humor, and sometimes my venting. It will, however, be written in the spirit of the things I have learned from these two men, and through my own experience and research. I plan to write about topics ranging from medical practice, human behavior, spirituality, and sometimes even how our politics can become wrapped up into those things. Sometimes I will be the devil's advocate, and sometimes I will write from the mainstream. Most of all, though, I hope to make people think. Whether or not folks always agree with me, I hope my readers will find my writings to be thought-provoking, and maybe help folks see a side of an issue they had not seen before. Welcome to the blog!
Glad you are writing!! Xo