In Psychology, There's Something Called The Broken-leg

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.

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.

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.

These Are Folks That Keep People Out Of Hospitals, Out Of Emergency Rooms, Out Of Nursing Homes. And Not Only That, They Help People Achieve More Fulfilling Lives.

I Talked To Over Two Hundred Patients And Family Members About Their Experiences With Aging, Serious Illnesses, And The Big Unfixables. But I Also Spoke With Scores Of Physicians, And Especially Geriatricians, Palliative Care Doctors, Hospice Nurses, And Nursing Home Workers. The Biggest Thing I Found Was That When These Clinicians Were At Their Best, They Were Recognizing That People Had Priorities Besides Merely Living Longer. The Most Important And Reliable Way That We Can Understand What People's Priorities Are, Besides Just Living Longer, Is To Simply Ask. And We Don't Ask.