Patch Adams, the doctor made famous by a movie of the same name starring Robin Williams, gestures as he listens to questions Monday at Western Kentucky Universitys Van Meter Auditorium. Photo by Joe Imel

Dr. Hunter Patch Adams has never charged anyone for his medical services. It wasnt because it was something neat to do. It was because we wanted to create a sense of belonging, Adams told a packed house Monday in Western Kentucky Universitys Van Meter Auditorium. We didnt want patients to think that you owed something, but that you belonged.Being happy and having a sense of belonging has guided the medical doctor through his 30 years of service. A staunch believer that laughter is an essential part of being healthy, Adams dedicated his life to providing indigent patients with the friend they so desperately need while giving them the best medical care possible. In his two-hour speech titled Medicine for Fun, not Funds, Adams talked about the philosophy of the Gesundheit Institute, the free health clinic he established in Arlington, Va., in 1986. Besides believing in laughter as a cure for sickness, Adams rebuked the current health care system. He doesnt like the feeling of indifference toward patients that becomes a way of life for many doctors. He incorporated alternative medicines like acupuncture into his treatments, never dealt with third-party insurance companies or carried malpractice insurance. (Having malpractice insurance) says to patients that Im scared of you, and I will not have fear of them, he said. I knew the one thing that they needed was a friend.He wanted to be that friend no matter what the cost, he said. We moved into a six-bedroom place and ran the pilot program for 12 years, Adams said. We saw between 500 and 1,500 patients each month. We had between five and 50 stay overnight. They were the needy, the lonely, the lonely, the lonely and they were dangerous. One of our patients murdered my closest classmate. But that action didnt deter Adams from helping indigent patients get better. True intimacy is knowing that person. Thats why my initial interview was three to four hours, he said. I wanted to know you better than anyone. I wanted to be in love with you and I wanted you to love me. A self-proclaimed nerd, social misfit and student of life, Adams studied everything, from math to literature to human nature, throughout college. He never was taught about true intimacy, so he experimented by calling hundreds of wrong numbers to learn how to talk to people, he said. Adams soon discovered that clowning and goofing off made tedious tasks easier. When he entered medical school, he realized that clowning could help doctors improve their poor bedside manners, he said.I started to goof off a lot and got into trouble a lot, he said. Everything in the (1998) movie (Patch Adams) was an understatement. It was like Monte Python became doctors.We wanted to use peoples diseases as a gimmick to teach them about love and having hope. In his worldly travels, Adams has realized that most people dont know much about being healthy or living life to the fullest, he said. You start to see the discrepancy between the rich and the poor and how no one feels a part of a community, he said. People need to be more proactive when it comes to finding love.