Man Is Fallible, But Maybe

People Underestimate The Importance Of Dilligence As A Virtue. No Doubt It Has Something To Do With How Supremely Mundane It Seems. It Is Defined As "the Constant And Earnest Effort To Accomplish What Is Undertaken."... Understood, However, As The Prerequisite Of Great Accomplishment, Diligence Stands As One Of The Most Difficult Challenges Facing Any Group Of People Who Take On Tasks Of Risk And Consequence. It Sets A High, Seemingly Impossible, Expectation For Performance And Human Behavior.

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.

At Times, In Medicine, You Feel You Are Inside A Colossal And Impossibly Complex Machine Whose Gears Will Turn For You Only According To Their Own Arbitrary Rhythm. The Notion That Human Caring, The Effort To Do Better For People, Might Make A Difference Can Seem Hopelessly Naive. But It Isn't.

Courage Is Strength In The Face Of Knowledge Of What Is To Be Feared Or Hoped. Wisdom Is Prudent Strength.

Making Systems Work Is The Great Task Of My Generation Of Physicians And Scientists. But I Would Go Further And Say That Making Systems Work - Whether In Healthcare, Education, Climate Change, Making A Pathway Out Of Poverty - Is The Great Task Of Our Generation As A Whole.