You know, 97 percent of the time, if you come into a hospital, everything goes well. But three percent of the time, we have major complications.

We now have 30 percent, for example, of Medicare patients who are seeing doctors who are rewarded for doing this kind of work, like high blood pressure control. So, the Affordable Care Act has pushed this direction down the road.

Our ideas of what our priorities are shift as we come face-to-face with some of the struggles.

Don’t let yourself be. Find something new to try, something to change. Count how often it succeeds and how often it doesn’t. Write about it. Ask a patient or a colleague what they think about it. See if you can keep the conversation going.

If we took away the ability to put defibrillators in people in their last years, people would be shouting in the streets.

Life is choices, and they are relentless. No sooner have you made one choice than another is upon you.

When I do an operation, it's half a dozen people. When it goes beautifully, it's like a symphony, with everybody playing their part.