Wanted: Doctors who love mountains

Woods McCahill moved to Lake Placid in 1980, fresh out of residency. It was always his dream to work as a family physician in the Adirondacks. He grew up in Albany, where he went to medical school and drove north every chance he had to hike.

McCahill said he chose family practice over another field of medicine because it would improve his chances of getting a job in a small town. He spent eight years in private practice before joining the staff at the Adirondack Medical Center, where he has been ever since.

McCahill, now 69, was among a wave of young doctors drawn to the Adirondacks between 1975 and 1985. Med school cost $4,000 a year back then. Whatever loans the young doctors carried, the debt didn’t stand in the way of the lives the doctors wanted.

“We all skied, hiked, paddled,” McCahill said.

Times have changed. Six-figure debts point young doctors toward lucrative careers in cities.

Now some in McCahill’s generation are retiring, just