Dr. Mark Oestreicher: Legendary Physician Retires

The cards keep coming.

In the days since Dr. Mark Oestreicher announced his retirement from his dermatology practice of 46 years, the popular physician has been inundated with letters and emails from grateful patients, and their families.

They describe his caring, compassionate manner. They recall important — even life-saving — diagnoses. They say, “You were the best doctor I ever had.”

The praise is well deserved. (Full disclosure: Dr. Oestreicher is my dermatologist. I agree with all the kudos.)

Dr. Mark Oestreicher

In his near half century of practice, Dr. Oestreicher has treated tens of thousands of people. He worked in 2 offices — Westport and Trumbull — from 6:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.,  6 days a week.

He saw the parents of patients, and their children — and grandchildren.

The age range, and variety of cases, is what made dermatology so initially appealing, and ultimately so satisfying.

The Bronx High School of Science graduate was the first person in his family to go to college.

After SUNY-Stony Brook, his first choice for medical school was Georgetown. But New York state offered him a $150 Regents scholarship, so he headed to Albany Medical College.

He was interested in internal medicine. A few dermatology cases, though — and conversations with dermatologists — convinced him to switch specialties.

Dermatology involves immunology, physiology and surgery. “You never get bored,” Dr. Oestreicher says.

He did his residency at UCLA. (California is also where he saw his only case of leprosy.) But an earthquake in 1979 sent him and his wife Marilyn back east. He never regretted the move.

Dr. Mark Oestreicher, and his wife Marilyn.

He knew Westport from his aunt and uncle, who built the first home on Pequot Trail. (He visited in the early 1960s to watch New York Giants football games; blacked out in the city, they could be seen here on Hartford’s Channel 3.)

Early in his career, he met highly respected internists like Paul Beres, Harold Steinberg and Robert Altbaum. He gained their trust by diagnosing difficult cases they had sent him. His practice grew.

“I didn’t want to be a technician,” Dr. Oestreicher says, explaining why he has never specialized in Botox and laser treatements.

“I have nothing against cosmetic work. It just wasn’t for me.”

Instead he earned a reputation as a master diagnostician. He recalls with satisfaction a newborn with a high fever, whose body was blistering. She had been tested for fungus and herpes. Dr. Oestreicher realized it was a staph infection. Antibiotics saved her life.

He diagnosed lupus in a woman whose skin was peeling off. He moved her to the burn unit, and saved her life.

His early detections of skin cancer have saved countless livs.

When the AIDS crisis hit in the 1980s, Dr. Oestreicher was the only dermatologist who would see those patients.

For 3 decades, he was the only one to run a dermatology clinic for Medicaid patients at Bridgeport Hospital — for free. He’ll continue there for the rest of the year, even after retiring.

Until 2 years ago Dr. Oestreicher even made house calls, to infirm patients. “She treasured those visits,” the former caregiver of one woman told him recently.

He treasured them too.

Still — in addition to his practice, and teaching at Yale, Bridgeport Hospital and Albert Einstein College of Medicine — Dr. Oestreicher somehow found time to be a Cub Scout master, and soccer and Little League coach.

The Oestreicher family.

He and Marilyn raised 4 children. Their son Matt is a singer/songwriter, who toured with Lady Gaga, worked with Rihanna and Alicia Keys, and is now assistant musical director of the Apollo Theater. Jeffrey is a pediatric emergency doctor at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, while Adam — who gets married next month — manages a tennis club in Trumbull.

Their daughter Amy — a very talented artist, performer and writer — died 4 years ago, after a multi-year battle with rare stomach problems. “She was surrounded by a circle of excellence,” her father says, of support from doctors and the community.

Two cancers — and chemotherapy, which destroyed 70% of his lungs — have forced Dr. Oestreicher to retire. His last day in the office is June 30.

Until then he sees patients in the morning, 3 days a week. He gets in early, takes oxygen, then does what he has done for 46 years.

“I spend plenty of time with each one,” Dr. Oestreicher says. “We kibbitz. We laugh.”

Dr. Mark Oestreicher, mid-career.

His cancer has limited some of what he will do in retirement. But he plans to join the Y’s Men, join Marilyn at their favorite restaurant (Sakura), and continue to make a difference in his community.

He’ll have time with his wife, too. He and Marilyn celebrate their 53rd anniversary in July. “I’m the luckiest guy,” he says.

“I always stress to my staff: We’re here to make a difference in people;s lives. They’re often scared. Our job is to let them know what’s going on, and feel okay. I never compromised. I always put them first.”

In his retirement letter to patients, Dr. Oestreicher expressed his “deepest gratitude to every one of you for entrusting me with your health over the years.

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve as your doctor, and I am grateful for the relationships we have built. Your trust and support have been the driving force behind my commitment to excellence.”

“I just love being a doctor,” Dr. Oestreicher says.

His patients love having him as their doctor, too.

Which is why the thank-you cards, letters and emails keep pouring in.