How many hats do you wear in your town? Lots of physicians all over the country these days are wearing the extra hat of public service, and their impact on the community is tremendous, according to another Medicine at Work report on page 947. The article, "Double-Hatted Doctors Are Remaking Our Communities," points up the beneficial influence that physicians can exert when they join with other groups to get out the vote, campaign for greater safety, push for school improvments, or take part in other civic betterment programs.
All these "nonmedical" activities actually are linked to better health for the doctor's fellow citizens. But what is more, they are putting his practice into the proper perspective of many doing together what cannot be done alone or separately. In community activity, a physician finds his "whole" patient—individually and collectively—looking to him for leadership in an endeavor where service is a fruitful