Throughout the long history of human civilization, medicine has always been a sacred art, one of life and death, compassion and redemption.
Hippocrates penned his oath, pledging to place the interests of the patient above all else.
In the monasteries of the Middle Ages, monks distributed herbal remedies to the poor free of charge.
However, on this land called the United States, the story took a different turn.
When the first Puritans arrived at Plymouth aboard the Mayflower, they brought with them a devotion to God, but also a nearly paranoid emphasis on individual liberty and property rights.
In this new world, community mutual aid existed, but it was a fragile bond based on shared faith and common peril.
Once the crisis passed, once the wilderness was tamed, a more powerful force would take its place.
That force was individualism and the commercial spirit.
In this land, a doctor was no longer just a healer; he was, first and foremost, a businessman.
