quotable quotes - Late September 2012
“The First Lady and I have met with four star generals who say obesity may be our greatest national security threat … we hear stories of new recruits breaking bones and having joint problems because they have not grown up with all of the various cross-fitness activities that have made us strong and healthy.”
-Mr. Sam Kass (White House Assistant Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives, Washington D.C.) on the urgency of increasing physical activity and combatting childhood obesity, at the US Open, September 1, Flushing Meadows, NY.
“If people work in an environment where they believe there is meaning, they will put up with a lot. It goes beyond the significant personal consequences for an individual physician. It affects whom patients can see when they are sick, the quality of care they receive and their safety… Doctors are losing their inspiration, and that is a very frightening thing.”
-Dr. Tait D. Shanafelt (The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN), from Dr. Pauline W. Chen’s New York Times article “The Widespread Problem of Doctor Burnout.”
“Only a quarter of doctors are self-employed – an extraordinary turnabout from a decade ago, when a majority were independent. They’ve decided to become employees, and health systems have become chains.”
-Dr. Atul Gawande (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA), from his New Yorker article “Big Med.”
