For example, we can boast of 137 opticians and 70 optometrists. At the Sarasota Cataract & Laser Institute, Dr. Harry Grabow participates in leading-edge research, including FDA studies of new products and techniques. This state-of-the-art facility hosts numerous surgeons each year who travel from around the world to learn techniques from Grabow, who founded the institute. At Center for Sight, Dr. David Shoemaker, an acknowledged leader in his field, is a regular featured speaker at national and international ophthalmology conferences. He is among a select group of physicians chosen to serve as FDA investigators for new ophthalmic technologies, including the foldable intraocular implant and the implantable contact lens. And the Sarasota Retina Institute participates in FDA trials for macular degeneration treatments.

The Silverstein Institute is a nationally recognized center for hearing research. Its founder, Dr. Herbert Silverstein, was instrumental in bringing cochlear implants to the American public and is considered a leading authority on Meniere's disease. Now the area has 45 licensed audiologists and 87 hearing aid specialists.

Sarasota has three licensed midwives, five licensed doulas (who provide support and comfort to laboring women) and a hospital obstetrics unit at Sarasota Memorial Hospital to serve women's health issues. The hospital is unique for its neonatal intensive care unit, lactation consultants and a maternal-infant staff available by phone 24 hours a day to answer questions from new mothers. It's also recruiting candidates for a gynecological oncology program.

Men fare just as well, thanks to Sarasota's array of services to treat cancer patients. The Dattoli Cancer Center has pioneered many of the innovations associated with modern prostate brachytherapy. It now has the largest brachytherapy program in the country, and patients come from all over the world to use its services. Dr. Alan Porter of Radiation Oncology Centers offered the first prostate seed implantation here in 1978, and his offices participate in numerous clinical trials in the research and development of cancer treatments.

Sarasota is also home to The Wellness Community, one of only 25 centers in the country dedicated to psychological and emotional support for all cancer patients and their loved ones. It offers one-on-one and group counseling, nutrition counseling, relaxation, yoga and tai chi-all free of charge.

Meanwhile, important clinical research flourishes here. Reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Julio Pabon is one of a handful of fertility specialists in Florida participating in trials for MicroSort, a technique that screens for desired gender in children. Since its inception, MicroSort has garnered an 88-percent success rate for producing girls and a 73-percent rate for boys. At least three couples have tried the procedure at Pabon's office in Naples. Pabon is also the only doctor on the entire West Coast performing a technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), where individual embryos can be sampled for gender selection after a mere three days before they are implanted using in-vitro fertilization.

At Sarasota Memorial, Hemolink, an oxygen carrier that may eliminate or reduce the need for blood transfusions during open heart surgery, is under investigation. Its main advantage is that it can be used in any patient, so doctors hope to use it in severe trauma cases where a patient can die in the time it takes to identify blood type. The hospital is also on the forefront of a minimally invasive heart bypass procedure called endoscopic vein harvesting that allows surgeons to graft a vein through a single three-centimeter incision near the knee. Traditional methods involve an incision of 40 centimeters or longer.

This Florida resort destination also has a firm foundation of services for the elderly. Nearly 32 percent of Sarasota's population is aged 65 and over, and for those who need them, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and centers that treat advanced cases of Alzheimer's and dementia are plentiful and of high quality. The Senior Friendship Center offers adult day services, nutrition programs and a Center for Healthy Aging that provides medical and dental care for seniors on limited incomes. Last year the center provided more than a half-million dollars in free care, along with exercise classes, dancing, live bands, crafts and many other activities.

For the estimated 20 percent of Sarasota's population who are physically or developmentally disabled, organizations like Easter Seals and United Cerebral Palsy assist those with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, muscular dystrophy, mental retardation, epilepsy, Down syndrome, blindness, deafness and other risk factors.