When I Do An Operation, It's Half

Sometimes We Can Offer A Cure, Sometimes Only A Salve, Sometimes Not Even That. But Whatever We Can Offer, Our Interventions, And The Risks And Sacrifices They Entail, Are Justified Only If They Serve The Larger Aims Of A Person's Life. When We Forget That, The Suffering We Inflict Can Be Barbaric. When We Remember It The Good We Do Can Be Breathtaking.

You May Not Control Life's Circumstances, But Getting To Be The Author Of Your Life Means Getting To Control What You Do With Them.

The Definition Of What It Means To Be Dying Has Changed Radically. We Are Able To Extend People's Lives Considerably, Including Sometimes, Good Days.

My Own Son Has A Congenital Heart Condition, Where His Life Was Saved By A Cardiac Surgeon Stepping In At 11 Days Of Life To Save His Life. But He Is Now 21 Years Old Because Of Constant Monitoring And Working With Him With A Primary Care Physician. That's The Only Reason Now That He's Getting To Live A Long And Healthy Life. That's What We're Not Rewarding. They Don't Have The Kind Of Resources And Commitment That We Are Giving To People Like Me. I Have Millions Of Dollars Of Equipment Available To Me When I Go To Work Every Day In An Operating Room.

Just Look At The List Of Who The Lowest-paid People Are. Pediatricians Are At The Bottom. You Would Also Look At Internists. You Would Look At Psychiatrists. You Would Look At Family Physicians, Hiv Specialists. People Who Take Care Of Chronic Illnesses By Seeing People Carefully Over Time, Those Are The People Who Get The Least Money. The People Who Have The Most Are People Like Orthopedic Surgeons, Interventional Cardiologists. And My Point Isn't That There Is Something Wrong With Heroism.