Yes, there's a doctor in the house: some of the world's best doctors practice in South Florida. Here's a guide to choosing the top physicians by specialty - Top Doctors In South Florida

South Florida CEO, July, 2003 by Johanna Marmon

For a CEO, time is everything. We rush from one meeting to another. Breakfasts, luncheons, cocktail receptions, presentations. Always rushing.

And then we'll take time to ensure certain comforts--that we have the right seat on a flight, that we always get our special table at our favorite restaurant, that the upgrade at a specific hotel is in the right location with the right view.

We do all of that, but we don't take the time for the most important element in life--health. Am I talking about you? I'm certainly talking about myself.

All of the things above defined my life. But that changed last March, when I was told that I had prostate cancer. Up to that day I could not remember ever being sick, at least not beyond the obvious common ailments. I had no symptoms. I felt great. Except I had cancer. And I needed to do something about it. Focus. Study. Network. Hell, I thought a PSA was an airline from South California that crashed in San Diego years ago. Terms like Gleason Factor were out of my realm of experience.

But you find out, and fast. Because you run scared and that fear chasing you drives you to act decisively.

So I did my homework and I learned that South Florida has some of the finest physicians in the US. In fact, we have a cadre of pre-eminent men and women representing all fields of medicine. In my case, it was the chariman of Urology at the University of Miami Medical School, Dr. Mark Soloway (who is on this year's list). He has an international reputation for the specialty operation I needed--nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy. The operation probably saved my fife--as well as my ability to enjoy my life, if you catch my drift.

But I was lucky. I had time. That may be all any of us ever has. So use it well.

Richard Roffman, CEO,

Americas Publishing Group

How can you determine the best individual provider for your health care, with legions of doctors practicing in South Florida? Consumer health-care research firm Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. produces a highly-regarded list of the top doctors in the US, as revealed by their peers--physicians and hospital medical leaders. SouthFloridaCEO has highlighted a selection of the best of these physicians in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties, by specialty. We also profile six "medical pioneers" that Castle Connolly's research has consistently recognized.

Allergy & Immunology

Susan Benenati

Baptist & South Miami Hospitals. (305) 665-1623. Fellowship: Allergy & Immunology, Johns Hopkins Hosp., 88-90. Faculty: Asst. Prof. Med., Univ. Miami School Med.

Stuart A. Friedman

Boca Raton Community Hospital. (561) 495-2580. Fellowship: Allergy & Immunology, Univ. Cincinnati Med. Ctr., 80-82. Faculty: Asst. Clin. Prof, Med., Univ. Miami School Med.

Joan Gluck

Baptist & South Miami Hospitals. (305) 279-3366. Fellowship: Allergy & Immunology, Univ. Miami/Jackson Memorial, 74-76,

Michael Pacin

Baptist & South Miami Hospitals. (305) 279-3366. Fellowship: Allergy & Immunology, Long Beach VA Hosp., 72-74.

Mark R. Stein

Good Samaritan Medical Center. (561) 626-2006. Fellowship: Allergy & Immunology, Fitzsimmons Army Med, Ctr., 75-77.

Cardiac Electrophysiology

Alberto Interian Jr. Jackson Memorial Hospital. (305) 585-5532. Fellowship: Cardiology (Cardio vascular Disease), Univ. Miami Hosp., 86-88. Faculty: Prof. Med., Univ. Miami School Med.

Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease)

Steven Borzak

JFK Medical Center. (561) 641-9541. Fellowship: Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), Brigham & Women's Hosp., 88-91. Faculty: Prof. Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), Nova SE Univ., Coll. Osteo. Med.

James Margolis

Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute. (305) 674-3117. Fellowship: Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), Duke Med. Ctr., 72-74. Faculty: Clin. Prof. Med., Univ. Miami School Med.

Robert Myerberg

Jackson Memorial Hospital. (305) 585-5523. Fellowship: Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), Grady Meml. Hosp., 66-68; Cardiac Electrophysiology, Columbia Univ. Coll. P & S, 68-70. Faculty: Prof. Med., Univ. Miami School Med.

Paul Vignola Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute. (305) 674-2533. Fellowship: Cardiology (Cardiovascular Disease), Mass. Genl. Hosp.-Harvard, 7476. Faculty: Assoc. Clin. Prof. Med., Univ. Miami School Med.

Clinical Genetics

Paul J. Benke Jackson Memorial Hospital. (305) 243-6006. Fellowship: Clinical Genetics, Univ. Wisconsin Med, Ctr., 87-73. Faculty: Assoc. Prof. Clin. Genetics, Univ. Miami School Med.

Colon & Rectal Surgery

John Christie

Baptist & South Miami Hospitals: (305) 913-0666. Fellowship: Endoscopy, Beth Israel Med. Ctr., 72-.

Rene Hartmann

Baptist & South Miami Hospitals. (305) 271-0300. Fellowship: Colon & Rectal Surgery, Grant Hosp., 77-78. Faculty: Assoc. Clin. Prof. Surgery, Univ. Miami School Med.

Juan Jose Nogueras

Cleveland Clinic Florida. (954) 659-5251. Fellowship: Colon & Rectal Surgery, Univ. Minn., 90-91.

Steven Wexner

Cleveland Clinic Florida. (954) 659-6020. Fellowship: Colon & Rectal Surgery, Univ. Minn., 87-88. Faculty: Prof. Surgery, Univ. S. Fla. Coll. Med. School Med.