She felt the familiar calmness of an emergency, but she understood the falseness of that feeling, now that it was her life at stake.

Certainly when I got to medical school, I had role models of the kind of physicians I wanted to be. I had an uncle who, looking back, was probably not the most-educated physician around but he carried it off so well.

Patients know in a heartbeat if they're getting a clumsy exam.

Make something beautiful of your life.

What we are fighting isn't godlessness--this is the most godly country on earth. We aren't even fighting disease. Its poverty. Money for food, medicines... that helps. When we cannot cure or save a life, our patients can at least feel cared for. It should be a basic human right.

Being the first born gives you great patience.

The crookedness of the serpent is still straight enough to slide through the snake hole.