As we celebrate this year's Nurses Week, I am reminded of the Hippocrates saying that the goal of medicine is "to cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always." This, too, I learn through daily example from the amazing nurses I work with.

Where quality improvement was once a glimmering idealistic notion conjured up by a few pockets of ambitious doctors, it is fast becoming recognized as a permanent fixture in our nation's medical infrastructure.

Anatomy class in medical school has been reduced to a mere eight weeks during the first year of medical school, instead of the full year that comprised my education 40 years ago.

Any American-trained physician could truthfully be called 'Dr. Government', and we all need to repay our debt to society by caring for any one who needs it, regardless of political affiliation.