I know many people who are not doctors that are capable of being one. What separates them from doctors is not intellect or drive, but the opportunity to go to medical school. Just as in professional athletics, opportunity and circumstance can determine the fate of two equally talented people. Educational crossroads direct people on radically divergent paths with often equally divergent outcomes.

If you queried these people who own the potential to be a doctor, many would say that our job is one that they would not be able to do. We forget that what seems routine to us is disturbing to most others. In general people choose to eschew the social ills, violent injury, death, despair, sounds, and smells that cross our threshold daily.

Emergency departments, like people, are as varied as the fish in the ocean. Some emergency departments cater to a relatively tame population. At these places, shootings are rare. Almost everyone has a home and a family doctor and all of the children are above average. While practicing at these pristine spots is no cake walk, there is no comparison to practicing in neighborhoods at the other end of the spectrum.

The doctors and nurses who work in the violent urban zones of our country do the hard work that many emergency physicians say they could not do. I count myself in that group. It’s not that I couldn’t work in urban Detroit, I just don’t want to. My hat is off to those who do.

My friend and colleague, Dr. Jim Young, recommended that I read a book written by Dr. Sampson Davis. I downloaded it to the app on my iPad as we were talking. I’m better for reading it because it gave me fresh insight into the cultural abyss that exists in many cities and the challenges that exist in those emergency departments. “Living and Dying in Brick City” was written for lay people, but emergency physicians will find the book to be captivating and informative as well.

Dr. Davis is an emergency physician who practiced at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center at the time he wrote the book. The neighborhood that the hospital serves is ground zero for every social ill imaginable. I’m sure many emergency physicians around the country could have written a book on this subject. Dr. Davis, however, writes from a position of moral authority that few others can claim. First, he is an African American. Second, he grew up running the same angry streets that surround the hospital.

In spite of the poverty and the culture of violence and low expectations, he and two friends took command of their lives and now enjoy great success as doctors and community leaders. The three wrote the book titled “The Pact.” Dr. Davis wrote “Living and Dying in Brick City” to highlight the issues that plague impoverished urban zones. With boldness and sensitivity he shines a bright light on topics such as murder, addiction, domestic abuse, sexually transmitted disease, out-of -wedlock births, depression, and obesity.

One could write a book about these troublesome topics and the words would ring hollow if there was no accompanying action. Dr. Davis puts his money and his heart where his mouth is. The Three Doctors Foundation has been working to promote health, education, leadership, and mentoring. He and his friends have received national recognition for their efforts to help bring wellness, opportunity, and guidance to those languishing in a cultural wasteland.

For a half century, our government has devoted massive resources to the war on poverty, and we don’t seem to be much better for it. Many policies have exacerbated rather than helped the situation. Poverty is still rampant, schools are a national disgrace, and violence infests the culture.

The solution will not be facile. Dr. Davis makes the point well that while solutions are elusive, the cause is not race. He and his friends were able to escape the bonds of a broken culture. Many from similar roots have been unable to do this and are mired by circumstance and shattered society rather than by genetics. He is right to raise awareness and to focus on solutions that will allow individuals and families to pull up out of the mess through education and mentoring. In spite of his work, the current crisis in urban centers is still largely ignored.

Our national media and our elected representatives seem to ignore the daily tragedies in our cities. While the 26 deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary were a gigantic tragedy, these deaths pale in comparison to the 16,000 homicides in this country every year. The news programs will blab on for weeks about a sensational shooting or the arrest of some empty-headed starlet, but disregard the 44 deaths by homicide every day of the year. HALF of these deaths are young black men who fall in the streets of cities like Gary, Ind., and Birmingham, Ala.

The problems of urban violence and cultural decay will take generations to solve. I believe that most government programs formed to address these issues have been abysmal failures. Dr. Davis and his foundation properly focus on education as the avenue to success. Unfortunately our federal, state, and local governments continue to prop up school systems that cannot graduate half of the black students. Fatherless families contribute to the problem significantly. However, clearly our schools are failing these children. Those who believe the current approach is acceptable need to step back and refill their Zyprexa prescriptions before returning to the discussion.

The time has long passed for those in the educational industrial complex to stop pleading for more money so they can throw it away in failing and corrupt systems. Mayors and governors need to run the rats off the ship and start providing efficient school systems and high-quality teachers who succeed in educating and graduating students who will move on to productive and prosperous lives. Until this happens, young men will continue to take the path that leads to shooting each other in the street and bleeding to death in our trauma bays.

Dr. Baehren lives in Ottawa Hills, Ohio. He practices emergency medicine at Wood County Hospital. Your feedback is welcome at DBaehren@premierdocs.com.