Free «Doctor William Cunningham» Essay Sample

Our family doctor, Mr. William Cunningham was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 23, 1967 to George Michael and Diana Moffet. Doctor Cunningham is an amazing doctor, because he has been able to help many people in our neighborhood, including our family. He was raised by a single mother who dropped out of school in the fourth grade. When Cunningham was only twelve years old, his parents divorced, and his mother was left to take care of her son and his younger sister Sasha on her own. To take care of her two children, Mrs. Moffet had to work at two or three jobs to provide for her young children.

Unlike his younger sister, Cunningham admits that he was very poor academically throughout elementary school. In fact, Cunningham was at the bottom of his class in the third and fourth grade. It reached a point, where his colleagues called him a dummy and as a result, he developed a violent behavior and uncontrolled temper. When his mother saw Cunningham’s failing grades, she took the necessary steps to turn her son’s life around. Cunningham admits that his mother limited his play time as well as television watching. In fact, he was not allowed to go outside to play with his friends until he had finished his homework. Cunningham was instead asked by his mother to conduct a research on her chosen subject and submit a written report or essay every fortnight. Doctor Cunningham contends that this was the turning point of his life, because his grades started to improve in middle school. He amazed his classmates by becoming the top student in class. His new-found academic prowess continued throughout high school. His dream after high school was to become a physician.

After graduating from high school, Cunningham attended University of Michigan Medical School, where he earned a Degree in Public Health, majoring in Psychology. From University of Michigan Medical School, he went to Yale School of Medicine, where he pursued a Master’s Degree in neurosurgery. Cunningham attributes his shift of interest from psychiatry to neurosurgery to his hunger for knowledge that made him read voraciously in many subjects concerning surgery. He also attributes his love for neurosurgery to his new-found three-dimensional reasoning skills and excellent hand eye coordination skills. After receiving his Masters at Yale School of Medicine, he became a resident doctor at renowned Yale-New Haven Hospital. He pursued his fellowship at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and was thereafter board certified in 2002.

Professionally, Dr. Cunningham is specialized in neuromuscular disease, particularly, myasthenia gravis, the diagnosis and treatment of neuropathic pain, and neuropathy. As a result of his achievements in this field, Dr. Cunningham has been awarded various honorary doctorates from the New York Medical College, Bard College and the University of Turin. Based on his experience as a medical doctor, Cunningham has become a medical advisor at Quackwatch, which is a non-profit organization that aims at health related myths, fraud, misconduct and fallacies. Apart from being an associate editor of the blog Science-Based Medicine, he is also a regular contributor to the Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine together with various medical journals. In 2010, Cunningham was appointed as the assistant board chairman of the Institute for Science in Medicine. So far, Cunningham has received several awards including the Outstanding Physician Award (1997), Harvey Cushing Medal (2003), and the Neurosurgical Society of America Service Award (2007) due to his dedicated service to the people.

At the community level, Dr. Cunningham has been of great help. In many occasions, he has been called upon to be a public speaker on various issues that are related to health. Moreover, he spends most of his free time with groups of young people, advising them on different health issues. He is currently working on his book which title and subject is a secret. Through hands, many people have been able to have their lives back. He says that this is possible only because he takes the risk of giving his patient a second chance to live. Through his services, Dr. Cunningham has been of great help in mending families and creating joy in those who had despaired. As Hippocrates, who is considered by many to be the father of medicine said that, the main objective of any physician is to prevent disease, or cure, if prevention is impossible, and if the two are impossible, then relive pain. Many of Dr. Cunningham’s patients contend that the doctor has lived up to this calling. Together with those who work with him, the patients admit that the doctor usually does anything possible to prevent neuropsychological and neurological problems.

Doctor William Cunningham married Diana Rose in 1992 with whom they have three children: Nick Hart (Born 1998), Dan Cunningham Jr. (born 2002) and Diana Moffet (born 2005). Cunningham is known for being somewhat outspoken and eccentric, what sometimes land him into trouble. Nevertheless, it is apparent that the doctor is a darling of many people. It would be a disservice not to mention that Cunningham serves the people regardless of their social status, age, sex, ethnicity and race. This has awarded him the tag “A man of the people.” Dr. Cunningham is not planning to retire any time soon. He believes that he has got many projects to initiate as well as new discoveries to make in the field of neurosurgery before he retires. His humility and honesty was evident throughout the interview.