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Like many families, mine had a deep, dark secret. A mystery man in our past. A handsome young relative who appeared in family portraits from the 1910's to the late 1920's... and then vanished.
 
THE PEOPLE'S DOCTOR is his story.
 
George Hatem was born in Buffalo, NY to working-class Lebanese immigrants.  What began as a casual trip to China in 1933 after medical school, would change this 23 year old doctor's life forever.
 
Appalled at the brutal health conditions and national corruption under China's feuding warlords, Hatem soon fell in with the progressives dedicated to reform. Traveling deep into the country, he met and befriended the young Mao Zedong, and began to absorb the language and customs of his new surroundings, soon taking the Chinese name Dr. "Ma Haide," meaning "virtue from overseas."
 
As China endured Japanese invasion and civil war, Dr. Ma remained at Chairman Mao's side.  For 14 long years, he ran a hospital in a series of caves. A simple dermatologist by training, Dr. Ma's war record is legendary, having treated tens of thousands of wounded. 
 
After the war, Dr. Ma became a dynamic public health pioneer in the new People's Republic of China and is credited with eradicating diseases such as venereal disease and leprosy throughout China.  Finally in 1978, Dr. Ma was allowed to visit the United States again and the family he had not seen for over 49 years.
 
This is a portrait of one man's personal odyssey through harrowing circumstances to discover his place in the world and his responsibility to others living in it.