Health care is the focus of public debate now more than any time since 1945, when President Truman proposed an initiative that, 20 years later, was enacted as the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Then and now, at the center of that roiling debate are the doctors, the men and women whose training, instincts, and compassion for their patients and their community remains the most vital sign of the county’s overall health.

Each year, the Orange County Medical Association conducts a thorough survey of local physicians and rates them on leadership, teaching and mentoring, research, and humanitarian service. (See a full accounting of the association’s selection criteria here.) For 2010, the association named 235 doctors in 59 specialties to its Physicians of Excellence list, and it’s Orange Coast’s privilege to present their names exclusively, arranged by specialty. (Unless otherwise noted, each physician is an M.D.)

We wish all our readers good health in 2010, but if any of you should need a doctor, let this be your guide to the finest physicians in Orange County.