From Postman to Physician: Dan K. Morhaim M.D. ’75, and His Fateful Encounter with Medicine
Dan K. Morhaim M.D. ’75, Had No Idea That a Quick Decision to Volunteer at an Emergency Room Would Set Him on a Path to Become a Physician and State Legislator
It was the early 1970s when Dan K. Morhaim M.D. ’75, was walking up and down the hills of San Francisco, California, as a mail-carrier, unsure of what the future held for him. He always knew he liked to create change to help others, but it wasn’t until a chance evening volunteering in an emergency room when he realized he wanted to pursue medicine. Decades later, Dr. Morhaim has worked in several hospitals as an emergency physician and even spent 24 years serving in the Maryland State House of Delegates. Read the full article on Dr. Morhaim.
Dr. Morhaim largely had to support himself during his undergraduate studies at the University of California Berkeley leading to his job as a mail-carrier. He enjoyed the job but wanted more for his life, when one day his friend asked him if he wanted to volunteer in the emergency room at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California. He assisted physicians with non-medical duties but it was one of his first few times being in a hospital setting. “It was the first time I got to talk to a doctor about being a doctor,” Dr. Morhaim said.
That night in the emergency room wasn’t planned but it laid a blueprint for Dr. Morhaim’s career. Open to a new challenge, Dr. Morhaim applied to New York Medical College (NYMC) despite it being across the country. NYMC’s campus was still in New York City when he began his studies, and he spent time in Metropolitan Hospital’s emergency room in East Harlem. “It was quite a culture shock for a kid from California to be in an urban trauma center,” Dr. Morhaim said. “You see many social issues play out in the ER.”
He quickly adjusted to the hustle and bustle of the emergency room saying, “Eventually, I learned to adopt a New Yorker attitude.” After graduation, Dr. Morhaim found himself back in his native Los Angeles, California, where he completed his residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, adding extra ER rotations. “In the ER, we took care of everybody, regardless of ability to pay. It wasn’t making headlines, but it helped people,” he said.
Dr. Morhaim stayed in California to work as an assistant director of emergency medicine at Lancaster Community Hospital and as an emergency physician at Santa Cruz Community Hospital before moving to Maryland in 1981, where he became the first chair of Emergency Medicine at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore.
It wasn’t just the health care environment that Dr. Morhaim wanted to impact. In 1994, he was elected to the Maryland State Legislature House of Delegates, where he represented the 11th district for more than two decades, with his final term ending in 2018. It was yet another new experience for Dr. Morhaim, going door-to-door for eight months and “campaigning like heck,” he said. He acquired the nickname “Doctor Dan” and eventually won the election—a seat he didn’t relinquish for 24 years. During his time as a delegate, Dr. Morhaim was on several committees including Health and Government Operations, Environmental Matters, and Commission to Modernize State Procurement. After leaving the legislature, he was called to service again when he was appointed to chair Baltimore County’s Behavioral Healthcare Council, where he continues to advocate for treatment of addictions and mental health.
Dr. Morhaim also took an interest in end-of-life issue and advanced directives. “In our culture, it’s taboo to talk about death, and it was revealing that there wasn’t much research on advance care planning,” he said. In formal peer-reviewed published studies, Dr. Morhaim found that there only about 40 percent of Americans had completed advanced directives and that the rate among minority populations was around 20 percent. This led him to increase awareness encourage completion of these free legal forms. “I knew that there was a much better way to do things that would help people and guide providers,” he said. Dr. Morhaim published two books on the subject, The Better End in 2012 and more recently, Preparing for A Better End: Expert Lessons in Death & Dying for You and Your Loved Ones in 2020. His books have been endorsed by a diverse group of distinguished people including Maya Angelou, U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, Dr. Leana Wen, and many others.
In 2013, Dr. Morhaim was honored with the NYMC Jackson E. Spears Community Service Award bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated exceptional service and commitment to the community.
Looking back, Dr. Morhaim is grateful for several pivotal moments in his life, whether it was his friend who invited him to volunteer at a hospital in 1970s or his time as a student at NYMC, which he says fortified his passion for studying medicine. “I don’t know where I’d be in my life without NYMC. The College shaped a lot of my life and who I am,” Dr. Morhaim said.
