I know Dr. John Tkach as both “my” dermatologist and as a friend. Both are important for describing his professionalism.
I’ve been an actual patient of his just a few times over the years, starting in 2012. Two things are especially notable: When this doctor sees you, it’s actually **the doctor** seeing you! Dr. Tkach does all the technical work. (He does have one full-time office assistant and another part-time, but they’re not technical people—they do the paperwork, especially the tangling with insurance companies.)
Second, Dr. Tkach isn’t in a hurry to get to the next patient. He doesn’t schedule two patients for the same time, and it’s likely he’ll take half an hour (or more) with you, one-on-one.
Also, he’s not just a nine-to-five doctor. On most weekends, he spends several hours in the Montana State University [MSU] library doing searches of the online medical literature and data bases for assistance in treating his patients who have highly challenging cases. (Since he’s the Bozeman area’s senior dermatologist, having started here in 1974, other doctors often refer to Dr. Tkach their patients whose cases have stumped them.)
I know Dr. Tkach as a friend because of his regular attendance at the MSU Physics Department’s weekly colloquia. (His extra-medical interests are wide-ranging.) Most weeks, he and I go to dinner after the colloquium, and that’s how I’ve learned many important details about his professional life.
Beyond Dr. Tkach’s long-developed expertise, there are two adjectives that are especially appropriate for describing him: Devoted and dogged.