Art of Aging: Giving back in retirement years
UNIVERSITY CITY (WPVI) -- Dr. Rudolf Roth is a dermatologist who served in the Air Force for 30 years, and then joined Penn Medicine.
He originally planned to work another 10 years and then kick back.
But those military memories changed his mind.
"I saw a lot of poverty up close, and a lot of disease that we don't typically see in the United States. I came to the realization that I could do something overseas that was more long lasting," said Dr. Roth.
Penn Medicine helped Dr. Roth create a fund and carve time out of his schedule to build and sustain partnerships with doctors and hospitals in Haiti, Costa Rica and Guatemala.
Dr. Roth says, "We deliver dermatologic care to a group of individuals who would not normally get that kind of care. We treat everybody and everything that comes in."
And, from the program, Dr. Roth says that he has gotten back as much as he's given.
"I feel in some ways, it's renewed the energy that I have for working each day," he said.
And he believes everyone should find a way to use their talents to relieve the suffering of others.
"To invest themselves whole heartedly and even sacrificially in other people's lives and to do that with passion," said Dr. Roth.
