Profiles in Giving (PDF)

Dr. Mark Brown DMS '82: A Life in Medicine

Dr. Mark Brown DMS

Mark Brown had been a lawyer for nearly a decade when he made the life-changing decision to leave law and become a doctor.

At age 33, "I was certainly not a traditional pick," Dr. Brown recalls, "but the Dartmouth admission committee took a chance on me and I will be forever grateful."

Mark Brown, an emergency room physician in Los Angeles, is more than grateful to his alma mater; he's generous. Over the years, Dr. Brown has been a loyal supporter of the Fund for DMS. "DMS prepared me for medicine through its example of compassion and respect more than anything else," he says. "I met wonderful people who loved what they were doing, respected their patients, and appreciated the privilege of being a doctor."

Two professors in particular made lasting impressions on him: the late Dr. Don Wilson, professor of clinical surgery (neurosurgery), and Dr. Richard Dow, professor of surgery and chair of the Department of Surgery. Of Dr. Wilson, Brown remembers, "His joy in what he was teaching was infectious." And of Dr. Dow, he says, "He taught me a great lesson about the art of medicine."

That lesson came just after the death of a young patient, whose heart had stopped following a high-impact car collision. Dr. Dow explained to Mark Brown that the hardest part of practicing medicine is breaking devastating news to loved ones left behind.

While Dr. Brown has experienced both the joy and the heartache of a life in medicine, he loves what he does. "There is no greater job on earth," he says.

Return to Profiles In Giving