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The gathering of information about the best black doctors started with a Profnet Query, which was relayed throughout the hospitals and private practices in the tristate area. The response from the doctors was overwhelming; we had to request the institutions of their affiliation to recommend no more than their best 10. From these we selected those who appear in the profiles and those who appear in the list, all along categorizing them into areas of their own expertise. Apart from having to be at the top, the doctors had to have a minimum of five years practical experience, verifiable training and academic credentials, a good reputation, and they had to be practicing in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Philadelphia, the local area we cover, where they can easily be reached by short travel.
Apart from consulting with hospitals and private practices, we also sought counsel from such professional organizations as the American Cancer Society, the American College of Physicians, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Association of Black Cardiologists, and the National Medical Association (NMA), to name a few.
Our list expands annually as our instruments for research improve. We hope you will find the telephone numbers, and the addresses we provide useful, and that for the sake of the hearts of those that love you and for the sake of your own health you will be more aggressive in seeking medical care. -- Njeru Waithaka, Editor
During a routine visit to his childhood doctor in Antigua, 5-year-old Samuel J. Daniel listened to the stethoscope and was immediately captivated. "Something came over me and I began to think that I could be a doctor," said Dr. Daniel, who grew up being treated by black physicians. After completing high school, he immigrated to the United States and enrolled at Queens College to pursue undergraduate studies in chemistry.
"I was one of two African Americans majoring in chemistry at the time," he said. "They doubted my abilities."
Dr. Daniel, who received his medical degree from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, and who completed his internship, his residency and his fellowship in gastroenterology at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, is one of the few African Americans to lead a major hospital.
As president and CEO...