From âMarcus Welbyâ to âScrubsâ

DR. WORTMANN is professor of medicine at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H. The medical drama “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” seen on television from September 1969 through July 1976, followed the older Dr. Welby as he drove around in his long sedan, caring for his patients in the hospital, in his office, at the nursing home, and even in their homes. (Those visits were called “house calls.”) He seemed tireless, as there was never a time he was not available to see his patients. He was the consummate good doctor. But his methods were not always conventional and were pitted against the more straitlaced methods of Dr. Steven Kiley, his young motorcycle-riding associate.