The path to medicine, history, art and culture is rarely described on a chess board. For world-renowned chess set collector George Dean â53, M.D. â56, however, the game perfectly encapsulates his career in medicine.
As a founding father of the Family Medicine specialty, Dr. Dean has spent his career caring for the families he serves while simultaneously moving the powers that be to recognize Family Medicine as a specialty. The Wayne State University School of Medicine has a Family Medicine Department thanks to the leadership and strategic lobbying of Dr. Dean and his colleagues.
âI have always loved being a Family Medicine doctor,â Dr. Dean said. âThe specialty is so important to all patients. Family physicians have the opportunity to grow meaningful relationships with their patients and serve families for several generations. The practice of Family Medicine is also a cost-effective solution for the patient, and well-qualified physicians have the integrity to know when they have reached the limits of their expertise. In this way, the family physician becomes the patientâs advocate.â
Dr. Dean knew he wanted to become a doctor at a young age. After a life-changing tonsillectomy, he promised himself and his future patients that he would always treat them with the utmost care and respect.
âWhen I was seven years old my parents said I was going to the doctor to get my picture taken,â Dr. Dean recounted. âThere was this huge light hanging from the ceiling, and two men held down my arms and legs. They put an ether mask over my face and removed my tonsils. I promised myself then that if I ever became a physician I would never treat anyone this way.â
True to his word, Dr. Dean has spent the entirety of his career focused on patient care and advocacy while working to bring more compassionate and competent physicians into the specialty. The manner in which he practices reflects his vision and hope for the profession. By forming strong relationships with patients and their families (and, throughout his career, treating parents, children, grandchildren and sometimes great-grandchildren of the same families) Dr. Dean has provided holistic care for the communities he still serves today.
âI always knew I would enjoy going into family practice more than any other specialty because the profession has more comprehensive contact with the patient. During my career, I have provided comprehensive care, everything from births to minor surgeries â" the spectrum of patient care,â he said.
After graduating from medical school, Dr. Dean joined the Navy and completed his residency at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital. He then served at the Grosse Ile Naval Air Station. Once he completed his training and service, he began working in metropolitan Detroit, opening his own practice early in his career.
âBeing in private practice gave me the flexibility to treat patients how I wanted in the way I wanted. It allowed me to spend a great deal of time with each of my patients without having to be rushed to reach a certain quota or meet the expectations of others. I had a wonderful situation in which I could take time to be the healing modality patients needed, having close interactions with them, supporting them and transmitting to them that I am their advocate,â he said.
The comprehensive nature of Family Medicine propelled Dr. Deanâs passion for the specialty since his time in medical school. As an alumnus of both Wayne State University and the School of Medicine, he understands the integral role his alma mater plays within the Detroit community.
âI received an outstanding education from Wayne. We had such excellent exposure to all kinds of diseases and medical cases. Through my Wayne State education, I saw everything,â Dr. Dean said. âThe medical school is an extension of the community. Students see and treat all kinds of patients, and they learn to be well-rounded physicians.â
Dr. Dean believes that with a focus on the patient â" a value held in highest esteem by Family Medicine physicians â" medical students will be best prepared to care for those they serve.
Early in his career, however, he observed a marked difference in the number of doctors entering into family practice. By the early 1960s the numbers were discouraging. âVery few medical students went into family practice at that time. The numbers were so low that a few of my colleagues and I decided it was time to make a change,â Dr. Dean said.
Working with his colleagues, he formed the American Board of Family Practice in 1969. Dr. Dean, one of the charter members, passed the board certification the first year it was offered. âBoard certification was important for the specialty,â he explained.
After establishing the American Board of Family Practice, Dr. Dean served as president of the Wayne County Academy of Family Physicians and the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians. He established departments for Family Medicine at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, lobbying with great fortitude to convince university leadership at the institutions to recognize the importance of the field.
âIn the end I was able to convince the dean of the need for this specialty at Wayne State,â Dr. Dean said. âIt was a difficult journey, but the institution is better for having it.â
After successfully helping establish Family Medicine departments at WSU and U-M, Dr. Dean took faculty appointments at both schools. He continued his fight for the specialty at state and federal levels. In the early 1970s, he realized that Family Medicine doctors were paid half the amount that specialists received for the same procedures. As an officer of the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians at the time, he met with a friend and medical health attorney, Gilbert Frimet, who represented Dr. Dean and the Michigan Academy in suing for equity based on the 14th amendment in the U.S. District Court. After the family doctors prevailed, the case was appealed until it finally reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Three Michigan Academy of Family Medicine Physicians, including Dr. Dean, provided written testimony.
âIt was interesting because the Secretary of Health and Human Services at the time was Dr. Otis Bowen,â Dr. Dean said. âDr. Bowen was a family doctor, and we were suing him for the fair treatment of Family Medicine physicians.â
The court decision â" which Dr. Dean and his colleagues won â" changed history. The federal government mandated that Medicare was required to compensate Family Medicine physicians and other specialists equally for the same procedure.
âThe ruling was significant, and it was extremely important to the Family Medicine practice and to me. I led the team that was instrumental in accomplishing this,â Dr. Dean said.
Dr. Dean accomplished major feats for Family Medicine doctors and the future of the practice across America. But once he set the proverbial ball in motion, he did not stop with the United States. As an officer in the American Academy of Family Physicians, he traveled internationally to promote the specialty. His travels took him to China, the former Soviet Union, Hong Kong, France and England, to name a few. Through his role in the World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians, he interacted with Family Medicine physicians around the world.
âOne thing I have seen throughout my travels is that family doctors have a humanistic perspective,â Dr. Dean said. âThis becomes especially apparent when coming back to the United States. Coming out of medical school, medical students are often encouraged to go into more lucrative specialties. With the great cost of medical education, finances can be a significant deterrent for those looking to go into family practice.â
Throughout his career, it has been Dr. Deanâs goal to see the percentage of practicing Family Medicine physicians increase significantly. His goals align with the American Academy of Family Physiciansâ to increase the number of Family Medicine matriculates to 25 percent of the national graduating class by 2030.
âI think right now we have around an average of 12 percent of the national graduating medical class going into family practice. I would like to see that number increase until family doctors are in the majority,â Dr. Dean said. âWayne State could be a leader in this movement, especially with the schoolâs position within the city. The institution has a unique opportunity to go out into the community and provide patient care in a multi-disciplinary approach. I would like to see Wayne take the lead in this. I was proud to see that Wayne was nationally recognized by the American Academy of Family Physicians for their activity in generating interest in Family Medicine.â
Dr. Dean has not shied from leading the profession into the future, whether through lobbying for the profession, or writing and publishing leading-edge articles and books about the specialty. His distinguished career has led to many Family Medicine milestones. For these accomplishments, along with his dedication to his patients, he has received a number of accolades. In addition to his membership in Alpha Omega Alpha (the medical honor society for scholastic achievement), Dr. Dean was named Michiganâs Family Physician of the Year in 1985, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians in 2002, was the 2006 recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians and received an Archie Award of Excellence in 2007 from the MAFP. He has been voted âBest Physician in Americaâ on several occasions by his peers. He is a 2018 recipient of the Wayne State University School of Medicine Trailblazer Award, which recognizes alumni and faculty who, through their perseverance and dedication, have forged paths through previously unexplored territory to become pioneers in their field of medicine and medical research.
Balancing the Family in Family Practice
Despite the accolades, sitting in Dr. Deanâs living room in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., it is clear that his proudest accomplishment is his family. Growing up in Detroit, he met the love of his life when he was 15 years old. She was 13. He recalls how he would cry to âTime after Timeâ by Frank Sinatra, as it reminded him of Vivian.
âShe looked like Elizabeth Taylor,â Dr. Dean said. âI would think of her every time I heard that song. It was our song, even if she did not know it yet.â
The budding infatuation blossomed when he was in high school, and he and Vivian married as he began medical school. âThe plan was she would work while I was in medical school, but the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. We had four children in three and a half years,â he said.
To sustain the needs of his young family, Dr. Dean worked several jobs throughout his four years at the School of Medicine.
âBetween my different jobs and responsibilities, I was surprised to learn that I was graduating among the top of my class,â he said. He graduated a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, the medical honor society.
Dr. Deanâs busy life did not stop upon graduation or completion of his residency and naval service. He opened an office in Redford, Mich., after finishing his stint in the Navy and hired a nurse named Phillis Young. She still practices with him today.
âBack then, my average day started at six in the morning. I would perform surgeries at the hospital and make rounds, come to the office and see patients, and then start house calls at four in the afternoon. Sometimes I would not get home until ten at night,â Dr. Dean said. âAfter many years, I decided that I wanted to spend more time with my family. I expanded the practice to include additional physicians, and this way I was able to see patients and better balance my time at work with my life at home.â
With four children, 16 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, Dr. Dean enjoys a large, successful family. âWe are a harmonious family,â he said. âI am blessed to have a very happy marriage of sixty-six years.â
He has inspired his family through medicine. His daughter, Randy Jo Dean, M.D. â86, Res. â90, followed in his footsteps and completed her medical degree at Wayne State. Her son, Dr. Deanâs grandson, Ethan Stahl, will be the third generation to do so as he enters the WSU School of Medicine Class of 2022 this year. Dr. Dean was proud to attend the July 27 White Coat ceremony, where, with his daughter, he took up the honor of coating Stahl. Dr. Dean also has several nephews who graduated from the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Commemorating World Travel through Chess
Hanging next to Dr. Deanâs family photographs are other treasures. The Dean home is filled with works of art and pieces of history, including original paintings and a beautifully painted 2,000-year-old sarcophagus from Egypt. While these may catch the eye of many art lovers, the overwhelmingly striking and impressive collection of chess sets Dr. Dean owns quickly takes center stage.
âAfter I started practicing, Vivian and I decided to take a trip to the Middle East. At that time, I was a terrible flier, and as soon as we landed I went straight to bed. Vivian got the shopping bug and went down to the boutique. It was there that she fell in love with this Yemenite chess set,â Dr. Dean said.
The small amount of money they had budgeted for gifts for friends and family was soon exhausted. âWe had budgeted an amount for gifts. Vivian came and woke me up to take me to see this chess set she fell in love with. I knew from the look in her eyes that we were going to buy that set,â Dr. Dean said.
Since then, Dr. and Mrs. Dean have collected a chess set from each of the countries they have visited. âIt is our way of commemorating the country. Whenever we go somewhere new I learn how to ask about antique chess sets in that countryâs language.â
Dr. Dean was the founding member and president of Chess Collectors International, a group of collectors who meet every year to discuss subjects pertaining to chess and chess sets. The collectors have met all over the world, including London, New York and at the United Nations, where Dr. Dean had an opportunity to speak about chess and world harmony.
âMy love for these chess sets comes from my love of art and history. I have written two award-winning books about chess. If I had not gone into medicine, I would have gotten a Ph.D. in Art History,â Dr. Dean said.
Fortunately for Family Medicine and for art history, Dr. Dean has, in a sense, done both.