Premier practitioners.

• Position: Health Care - Specialists

Compiled for BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA by Consumers' Checkbook Inc., a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit research organization that rates hospital health-plan and physician quality and publishes Consumers' Guide To Top Doctors. It asked doctors in the state's three major metro areas whom they would choose as a specialist for their families. The top five -- if there were that many -- in each region follow with the number of votes each received. For a complete list, with more information and specialties, visit www.businessnc.com.

Allergy/immunology

Charlotte

John T. Klimas, 19, Carolina Asthma and Allergy Center, Charlotte; Charles Thomas Humphries, 12, Asthma and Allergy Specialists, Charlotte; William Shecut Ashe Jr., 6, Asthma and Allergy Specialists, Charlotte

Triad

Eric Jon Kozlow, 19, Allergy and Asthma Center, High Point; Mary Beth Fasano, 18, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem; John Wilson Georgitis, 10, Piedmont Allergy & Asthma Associates, Winston-Salem; Kent Joseph Nastasi, 8, Piedmont Allergy & Asthma Associates, Winston-Salem; Ranjan Sharma, 8, LeBauer Allergy & Asthma Center, Greensboro

Triangle

Fred Craig LaForce, 20, Carolina Allergy and Asthma Consultants, Raleigh; Peter Bartlett Bressler, 10, Chapel Hill; Rebecca Hatcher Buckley, 8, Duke University Medical Center, Durham; Karen Diane Dunn, 5, Carolina Allergy and Asthma Consultants, Chapel Hill; Douglas G. Freeman Jr., 5, North Carolina Arthritis and Allergy Care, Raleigh; William Jay Yount, 5, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill

Cardiac surgery

Charlotte

Charles Hillman Edwards, 19, Hawthorne Cardiovascular Surgery, Charlotte; Mark Kevin Reames, 16, Sanger Clinic, Charlotte; David Scott Andrews, 14, Hawthorne Cardiovascular Surgery, Charlotte; Eric R. Skipper, 11, Sanger Clinic, Charlotte; John Clifton Hastings, 10, Hawthorne Cardiovascular Surgery, Charlotte

Triad

Neal David Kon, 31, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem; Michael Herbert Hines, 18, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem; Edward Burton Gerhardt, 8, Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeons of Greensboro, Greensboro; David Allen Duncan, 6, Walley, Morgan, Duncan and Borchelt, Winston-Salem; William York Tucker Jr., 6, Mills & Tucker Cardiothoracic Surgeons, High Point; Bruce Douglas Walley, 6, Walley, Morgan, Duncan and Borchelt, Winston-Salem

Triangle

Michael Robert Mill, 14, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill; Donald Duane Glower Jr., 13, Duke University Medical Center, Durham; William Charles Helton, 8, Carolina Cardiovascular Surgical Associates, Raleigh; Lance Eric Landvater, 8, Carolina Cardiovascular Surgical Associates, Raleigh

Cardiology

Charlotte

Kenneth Durham Weeks Jr., 12, Mid Carolina Cardiology, Charlotte; Geoffrey A. Rose, 9, Sanger Clinic, Charlotte; John Aldo Pasquini, 8, Mid Carolina Cardiology, Charlotte; Robert Steven Iwaoka, 7, Mid Carolina Cardiology, Charlotte

Traid

Frederic Ross Kahl, 10, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem; William Campbell Little, 9, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem; Paul Madison Kirkman, 7, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem; Henry Smith III, 7, Eagle Internal Medicine, Greensboro; Thomas David Stuckey, 7, LeBauer Health Care, Greensboro

Triangle

Charles Angelo Mangano Jr., 7, Raleigh Cardiology Associates, Raleigh; Christopher M. O'Connor, 6, Duke University Medical Center, Durham; Michael August Blazing, 5, Duke University Medical Center, Durham; Mark Earl Leithe, 5, Raleigh Cardiology Associates, Raleigh; Paula Freeman Miller, 5, Chapel Hill North Medical Center, Chapel Hill; Marschall Stevens Runge, 5, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill; Sidney Crawley Smith Jr., 5, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill

Dermatology

Charlotte

Stuart Yale Wernikoff, 17, Carolina Piedmont Dermatology, Charlotte; Libby Edwards, 12, Mid-Charlotte Dermatology and Research, Charlotte; John Albert Thompson Jr., 10, Dermatotogic Laser Center, Charlotte

Triad

Joseph L. Jorizzo, 20, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem; Laura Lomax, 12, Greensboro Dermatology, Greensboro; Elizabeth Fritz Sherertz, 9, The Skin Surgery Center, Winston-Salem; William Harrison Turner III, 8, Greensboro Dermatology, Greensboro

Triangle

John Carroll Murray, 14, Duke University Medical Center, Durham; Neil Stuart Prose, 11, Duke University Medical Center, Durham; Laurinda Lee Queen, 8, Raleigh; Carrie Deener Alspaugh, 6, Blue Ridge Dermatology Associates, Raleigh; Thomas Ross Andrus Jr., 5, Andrus & Associates Dermatology, Raleigh

Endocrinology

Charlotte

Richard Eckert Kleinmann, 16, Presbyterian Endocrinology and Osteoporosis Consultants, Charlotte; Douglas Baird Robinson, 14, Charlotte Medical Clinic, Charlotte; Mark William Parker, 13, Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Specialists, Charlotte; Roberta S. Bracken, 11, Presbyterian Endocrinology and Osteoporosis Consultants, Charlotte; Gary C. Rolband, 11, Mecklenburg Medical Group, Charlotte

Triad

Karl Patrick Ober, 27, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem; Stephen Alan South, 12, Guilford Medical Associates, Greensboro; Robert English Sevier (retired), 11, Guilford Medical Associates, Greensboro; Robert Paul Schwartz, 10, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem

Triangle

James Sherwood Coxe III, 13, Raleigh Endrocrine Associates, Raleigh; Denis I. Becker, 12, Raleigh Endrocrine Associates, Raleigh; Diana Bures McNeill, 12, Duke

University Medical Center, Durham; John Bernard Buse, 9, UNC School of Medicine, Durham; David Ainsworth Ontjes, 8, UNC School of Medicine, Durham

Family practice

Charlette

Thomas Hayes Woollen Jr., 12, Cotswold Medical Clinic, Charlotte; Marshall P. McMillan, 9, Kouri Medical Clinic, Charlotte; Ronnie Thurston Beamon, 6, Davidson Clinic, Davidson; Thomas Avery Barringer III, 5, Eastland Family Practice, Charlotte; Barbara Ellen Meyer, 4, Northcross Family Physicians, Huntersville

Triad

David Charles Keller, 6, Greensboro Family Practice, Greensboro; David Stone Jackson Jr., 5, Wake Forest University Family Physicians, Winston-Salem; Venita Weaver Morell, 5, Wake Forest University Family Physicians, Winston-Salem; Susan Jean Williams, 5, Wake Forest University Family Physicians, Winston-Salem; Robert Richard Ehinger, 4, Eagle Family Medicine, Greensboro; Anita Henderson, 4, Physicians for Family Health, Greensboro; Annmarie Mazzocchi, 4, Physicians for Family Health, Greensboro; Jeffrey Allen Todd, 4, LeBauer Healthcare & Associates, Greensboro

Triangle

William David Lee Jr., 11, Blue Ridge Family Physicians, Raleigh; Warren P. Newton, 6, UNC School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Chapel Hill; Barbara LaTowsky Sheline, 6, Duke Family Medicine, Durham; James Romer Stevens, 4, Rex Family Practice and Sports Medicine, Cary; Arthur Axelbank, 3, Orange Medical Group, Hillsborough; Gary Owen Bean, 3, Raleigh Family Practice, Raleigh; Douglas Ira Hammer, 3, Blue Ridge Family Physicians, Raleigh; Dennis Neill Jacokes, 3, Imperial Center Family Medicine, Durham; James Lloyd Michener, 3, Duke University Medical Center, Durham; Elisabeth Barrett Nadler, 3, Triangle Family Practice, Durham; Lawrence Reginald Wu, 3, Duke Family Medicine, Durham

Gastroenterology

Chartotte

Stephen Edgar Deal, 10, Carolina Digestive Health Associates, Charlotte; John Stephen Hanson, 10, Charlotte...