What We Do Differently
	Dr. Salem's Philosophy of Medicine
	Non-Medical Support Services

The Human Dimension
Humaneness is the essence of medicine. Medical care has to be delivered with knowledge and love. Either one alone is dangerous and inadequate. The major challenge now in America is to provide humaneness in medicine. The reason that humaneness is less a part of medical care now in many parts of the world is because doctors and nurses have become extremely busy dealing with large volumes of patients. In addition, the doctors and nurses may be trained with little emphasis on the role of love and compassion in the treatment of patients. We are proud to say that we deliver medical care in a milieu of humaneness and love. There are several issues to be considered here:

1. Doctors and staff at Salem Oncology Centre are acutely sensitive to the psychological and emotional demands of patients, and they are there to provide love and compassion at all times. This is a time consuming type of practice, but we emphasize again and again that we take all the time needed to provide love, compassion and humaneness because we believe that these are integral components of therapy. They are indeed the essence of therapy.
2. Our staff addresses the issues of fear, illusions, confusion, and suffering. We do not refer our patients to psychologists when we can solve these problems. The bulk of the psychological and emotional problems that patients have are natural responses to life-threatening diseases. Patients are referred to psychologists and psychiatrists only in the rare case where we feel the need to do so.
3. Established patients do not need to schedule specific appointments when they need to discuss issues with doctors and staff. They can come to the clinic at any time and there will be a nurse or a doctor whom the patient knows well and is ready to sit down and discuss issues with them.
4. We provide a home atmosphere in the clinic and we are proud that even when patients do not have chemotherapy to receive, and do not have a medical reason to come, they still come to the clinic to talk to other patients or simply to talk to staff. The clinic is indeed home to them.
5. The personable, family-oriented, and home-like atmosphere in the clinic is one of our attributes. I strongly believe that science and specifically medical science, needs to be humanized and custom-made for the specific patient.
6. This personal care extends beyond the patient to his family and friends. Our staff stands ready to also address the needs of the family and friends of patients.