March 27, 2000 TO : Alan Sherman, DPM (note...Dr Sherman is the editor of Podiatry On-Line) RE : Brian Gale, DPM (Letter of reference) I have been in practice in North Dakota for nearly three years. During this time, I have become acquainted with Dr, Bryan Gale. I have always been impressed with his professional demeanor. Dr. Gale has been helpful in the state and national Podiatric Medical Association. He has, over the past few years, performed the duties of secretary and treasurer well in the North Dakota State Podiatric Medical Association. He keeps association members well informed and he attends all of his necessary meetings. I am aware that Dr. Gale has completed one of the most prestigious podiatric residencies in the country. He currently runs a very busy medical and surgical practice in Bismarck, North Dakota. I have sent some patients to Dr. Gale for second opinions. I have found that his exams are thorough and professional. On the other hand, I have also seen several of Dr. Gale’s patients on referral or for second opinions. Again, I have felt that previous treatment has been above the level of the standard of this profession. Dr. Gale’s patients seem to all sense a genuine quality of caring and concern for them while in his care. I would be very surprised if Dr. Gale, or any other foot/ankle surgeon, did not have some surgical complications. We also need to look at the fact that Dr. Gale accepts the tough surgical cases, including recurrent, salvage, and high-risk cases. Many other physicians would refuse to treat patients in the category or fail to offer surgery as an option. I definitely have my own wonderful little cases from time to time. Taking an informal cross section analysis of those doing foot and ankle surgery across the country, one would find some comfort in the fact that all podiatric surgeons have patients with complications. One would also find that this is directly related to the number and complexities of the surgeries attempted. I find it interesting that independent of the level of foot and ankle training, almost every podiatrist and orthopedic surgeon feels that they could have performed better than the previous treating physician, particularly when seeing patients with complications. The hardest thing for any doctor to say to those patients is that it was a tough case, there appears to be a complication that is related to the nature and complexity of the surgery, and here are some treatment options. I am impressed to say that as far as I am aware Dr. Gale is competent and well trained. He genuinely cares for those who he treats and he has been an asset to the state association. Sincerely,
TW/llm |