The Philosopher’s Corner

bob_mcdonald.jpgContributor: Robert C. McDonald MD, WG'92 
To learn more about Bob, click here.

Life Lessons:

There are three forces at work that affect the decisions of how healthcare is delivered and how much of societal health, more broadly, is determined: the interests of caregivers (professionalism), the interests of patients (consumerism) and the interests of markets (economics).  When all three are in alignment, which is rare, it’s easy to understand what will happen.  When in conflict, one or two forces overcome the resistance of those opposing forces.  That’s how healthcare and health change.  Even after decades of studying this dance, the interaction of these three forces continues to amaze me every day.

  • If I knew then what I know now, I would have focused even more on the people whom I have met and the relationships that I have developed along the way.
  • If I knew then what I know now, I would have worked toward becoming a “smart giver” earlier in my career.
  • If I knew then what I know now, I would have climbed more mountains.
  • If I knew then what I know now, I would not have internalized the stresses so much during the years we dealt with a serious medical condition in one of our children.  Family first. 

Favorite Quotes: 

  1. “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  ~Mahatma Gandhi
  2. “Deserve Victory!” a Winston Churchill poster that hangs in my office
  3. “The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more.”  ~Dr. Jonas Salk
  4. “Tempis fugit”  ~Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn 

Recommended Reading:

  1. The Leader’s Checklist by Wharton Professor Michael Useem
  2. Give and Take by Wharton Professor Adam Grant
  3. Read anything written by Atul Gwande, MD