Mathematician, clothing importer, foundation repair person, pie maker, professional gambler: This is hardly the professional work experience you’d expect from a general internist, but Dr. Rogers feels these experiences have broadened him and allowed him to become a better doctor. He says, “Whatever my patients are doing, I’ve probably done something similar at some point in my life. It helps me to identify and empathize with them.” Not that he planned it this way. As a child Dr. Rogers always imagined becoming a university professor because he was adept at math and the hard sciences. At UC Berkeley, he majored in math, taking a special interest in measure theory, which provides the theoretical foundation of probability and statistics. “I had a good feeling for calculating odds. During college I was putting that to use playing poker and bridge. Today I think it helps me a lot in sorting out my patients’ various symptoms and coming to a conclusion. After all, very little is certain in medicine, and doctors are continually balancing risks and benefits weighted by the odds in order to decide what is best for their patients.”
Dr. Rogers was accepted to the prestigious Berkeley doctoral program in math and says he agonized over the decision whether to accept or not. “I loved math but knew it would isolate me, and I really enjoyed being with people.” Instead, he started his own business importing embroidered clothing from Mexico. “I know that sounds like a pretty bizarre alternative, but this was the late 60s, don’t forget.” The business endured 3 years and Dr. Rogers describes it as 3 years of paradise. “My girlfriend at the time and I had a ‘62 Dodge pickup truck with a camper shell and a couple surfboards on top, and we roamed all over Mexico buying up embroidered clothing and shipping it to our broker at the border. When we weren’t buying clothes, we were usually on the beach, often in some beautiful, remote place.” Dr. Rogers had taken Spanish in high school and during this period he became fluent.
That business ended and Dr. Rogers tried several other occupations before turning to medicine. “It seemed like the ideal way to make a good living by truly helping people.” He was accepted to medical school at the University of Cincinnati and went on to do a residency in Internal Medicine at Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center. Following residency he worked for a while at the LAC+USC Emergency Room and volunteer taught the Internal Medicine residents there. Eight years ago he joined Mendocino Community Health Clinic (MCHC). “When I was applying to medical school everyone was putting down that they wanted to work with the underserved—it was the “in thing” to say. However, I put it down because I really meant it. I think I was strongly influenced by spending so much time in Mexico. My work at MCHC has allowed me to fulfill that dream.”
Dr. Rogers maintains an outpatient practice but spends a fair amount of time at Ukiah Valley Medical Center, including caring for very sick patients at the UVMC Intensive Care Unit. He says,“In a larger city an intensivist would be taking care of the ICU patients, but I was well-trained for this kind of work and I enjoy it.” He says he emulates the doctors of decades past and likes to “be there” for his patients. To that end, he maintains a listed phone number and encourages patients to call him directly if they have problems. When not practicing medicine Dr. Rogers likes to play guitar, swim, play soccer, and study mathematics, a field in which he stays current. Lately, though, much of his time has been devoted to a major revision of his English-Spanish Spanish-English Medical Dictionary, which has been in print since 1991. This revision will be the 3rd edition. The publisher is McGraw-Hill. In this edition Dr. Rogers says he will be adding many difficult-to-translate terms which have never appeared before in an English-Spanish dictionary—terms such as “peer group,” “significant other,” “hospital bed” and “skilled nursing facility.”
Dr. Rogers lives in Potter Valley with his wife Cynda, a fine artist, and their two boys aged 10 and 12. He is a member of the American College of Physicians, Alpha Omega Alpha, and the California Medical Society.
Also see:
• Glenn Rogers's provider profile
