DOCTORS OF INTEREST
79
Treasure Coast Medical Report
Name: Dr. Michael J. Walters
Age: 41
Where I live: Port St. Lucie
Family: Wife, Deborah; sons
Enoch, 17; Noah,9; and daughter of 14; Malachi,
Zarah, 11
of
Education: B.S. Brigham Young
University, Provo, UT; Medical
College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee,
WI; Residency Dartmouth
Hitchcock Medical Center,
Lebanon, NH
Occupation: General surgeon
Hobbies: Running in half-marathons, taking the family
to the beach and scuba diving
What I like best about practicing medicine: “The chance
to connect with other people, to be a part of their lives and
hopefully make of
their lives a little better.”
Something most people don’t know about me: “I’m fluent in
American sign language. I worked my way through college
as an interpreter for deaf students.”
of
Maj. Walters, right, advises Afghan Dr. Abdullah during a surgery to save a
girl’s badly burned hands. Originally facing amputation, the girl recovered
with full use of her hands.
the war. “Our military
is well-trained and
they extinguished the
threat,” Walters said.
“As a doctor, I was
restricted to base. It’s
pretty secure. I never
really felt like I was in
immediate danger. I
treated a staff sergeant
FOUR
PHOTO PROVIDED
who had 66 solid
months of combat
experience. It was not
a good outcome. That
(66 straight months in combat) never happened in World War
II or Vietnam. We have a commitment to take care of these
soldiers. They will have significant ongoing challenges to
not only their physical needs but their mental health needs,
which they have from being exposed to so much trauma. We
owe them.”
>>
“People who
haven’t been out
of the U.S. don’t
know how good
they have it.”
— Dr. Michael Walters
/www.thepalmsofstluciewest.com