Evelyn Storr Smart

In the debate over health care reform, many people place importance on retaining the right to choose their own doctor, fearing that to give up this right would hamper the formation and maintenance of intimate doctor-patient relationships. In the following viewpoint, Evelyn Storr Smart argues that this concern is misplaced. She relates her experience with cancer in order to illustrate her belief that a competent doctor is more valuable than a friendly one. This viewpoint was originally published in the Los Angeles Times in July 1993, at which time Smart was a resident of Carmel Valley, California.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What does Smart say her cancer was originally diagnosed as?
2. How does Smart say she "chose" her oncologist"

My doctor.

To a lot of people, those words have a metaphysical sound. We...