60% of Iowa's 'Best Doctors in America' in the Iowa City Area

'Best Doctors in America' recognizes 294 University of Iowa physicians

The 2009-10 "Best Doctors in America" database recognizes 294 physicians from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and University of Iowa Children's Hospital.

Of the 294 UI physicians, all are members of University of Iowa Physicians, the faculty group practice of the UI Carver College of Medicine, which provides clinical services at UI Hospitals and Clinics and UI Children's Hospital. The selected UI physicians comprise nearly 60 percent of the 507 individual Iowa physicians on the nationwide database.

Among the physicians within Iowa listed on the database, 309 received all or part of their education through the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine as medical school graduates or through residencies, fellowships or some combination of those experiences, said Roger Tracy, assistant dean and director of the college's Office of Statewide Clinical Education Programs.

"University of Iowa Health Care employs about half of those 309 doctors, while the other half practice in some other capacity elsewhere in the state," he said.

Jean Robillard, M.D., vice president for medical affairs for UI Health Care, described the number of "Best Doctors" at UI Health Care as impressive, adding that he was equally impressed by the number of "Best Doctors" in Iowa with an education connection to the UI.

"There are great doctors all across this state, thanks in part to the role we play in education and training," he said.

Kenneth Kates, CEO of UI Hospitals and Clinics, said the Best Doctors database affirms the high level of highly specialized expertise available to Iowans at the state's only comprehensive academic medical center.

"Our expert physicians are a big reason why the quality of patient care in Iowa is high," he said. "It should be a point of great pride for the entire state."

"Best Doctors" is a Web-based resource that links individuals with serious illness to expert medical specialists for second opinions or treatment. The database, which results from peer review surveys undertaken by Best Doctors Inc., includes some 50,000 doctors worldwide.

To compile the database, doctors who are on the database were asked to rate the clinical abilities of other doctors in their areas of specialization. Only physicians who earned the consensus support of their expert peers were included. The company checks all doctors for licensing and certification requirements, plus non-qualifying disciplinary measures.

The company's Web site is http://www.bestdoctors.com.