14 months ago
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) - Before this day ends, Dr. Elmer Huerta will have seen at least thirty patients. But every weekday, Huerta dashes from patient appointments to his tiny office studio at the Washington Hospital Center. There he dispenses medical information to listeners who tune in to hear his show - Community Clinic Of the Air.
Huerta reaches nearly 100,000 people through the 60 minute call-in program. Topics vary, but his primary focus is cancer and the importance of early detection. "It's extremely difficult to convince people to see a doctor before they have a symptom. So what I'm using is what they call mass media marketing or social marketing."
Dr. Huerta says the radio is a familiar comfortable means of communicating major events in people's lives in Latin America. So, he saw it as an obvious tool for healing. "The name of my product is YOU. You have to see a doctor before you get symptoms. You may be sick and you don't know about it. Once the public has been convinced it is worthwhile to see a doctor before they get a symptom, I have a store where they go out and buy it. And that's here at the Cancer Preventorium - the clinic."
Broadcast on WACA-AM 1540 on the radio dial, Huerta promises any patient who is found to have an abnormal mammogram or other tests will receive all the necessary follow up treatments. A former medical oncologist, Dr. Huerta abandoned his specialty to approach healing from a different perspective. "Most of my patients that were sent to me for chemotherapy had advanced conditions, but they were preventable and early detectable."
Huerta says those same patients could tell him everything about novellas and sports, but knew little about basic health maintenance. With his outreach on radio and television, Dr. Huerta is convinced people are listening and changing their ways. "They are coming here and they ask me for the mammogram. They are asking me for preventative services to prevent cancer. And that's very rewarding."
Written by Andrea Roane9NEWS NOW
