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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | ||||
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| REMARKS BY: | TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES |
| PLACE: | Commencement Address of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi |
| DATE: | May 24, 2002 |
It's such an honor to be at Ole Miss, one of America's premier public institutions of higher education and one with such a rich heritage.
My good friends Senators Trent Lott and Thad Cochran are graduates of Ole Miss, as is my good friend Haley Barbour. So, I already feel like a part of the Ole Miss community.
Before I share some thoughts with you, let me just say to all the graduates, "Congratulations." You've made it. That deserves a big round of applause.
And let's all recognize your Moms and Dads, your husbands and wives and the loved ones who helped you get through your studies. They deserve applause, too.
They deserve so much credit ... especially since, because of supporting you in your studies here at the Medical Center, they probably have so little credit left.
I love coming to your wonderful state. Mississippi is a state that is rich in history and tradition. And I hope you all realize that Mississippi and Wisconsin enjoy a special relationship, for two reasons:
First, the river that gives your state its name forms the western border of Wisconsin. We both share, and benefit from, the Father of Waters.
Second, your state produced the greatest quarterback in the N-F-L, a young man named Brett Favre. So on behalf of the Green Bay Packers and the people of Wisconsin, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Coming to your great state reminds me of the story of the fellow who traveled around the country on business and often had to stay over the weekend. He was a churchgoer and enjoyed going to different houses of worship in the various states he was staying in.
Over time, he began to notice gold telephones on the walls of many churches in different parts of the country.
Above the phone, there was always the same sign. It read, "Dial heaven. $10,000 a minute."
At first he was a little shocked, but then he thought, "Well, I guess the phone companies have really developed some advanced technology."
Then he came to Mississippi. He went to church here in Jackson - and he immediately noticed something different.
Above the gold phones in the foyers of the churches he attended, the sign read, "Dial heaven. 35 cents a minute." I think you can guess he was pretty surprised.
So after a few Sundays he went up to the pastor of one of the churches here in Jackson and said, "You know, I've been to just about every state in the nation, and everywhere, calls to heaven are $10,000 a minute. Why are they only 35 cents a minute here in Mississippi?"
The pastor smiled warmly, put his arm around the guy and said, "Son, here in Mississippi, heaven is a local call."
Places like Mississippi and Wisconsin sometimes do seem like heaven because we love them so much.
But you wouldn't be entering the field of medicine today if we really were in heaven yet.
We live in a world of great joy, opportunity and challenge, but also in a world where suffering is all too common.
So let me thank you for choosing the field of medicine. There can be few more noble callings than working in the arena of suffering to bring hope and healing.
There is a growing shortage of health care professionals in our country, especially in the area of nursing. I'm so pleased that so many of today's graduates have chosen nursing as their field of service. Trust me - you will never lack an opportunity to use your skills. America needs you as never before.
All of you have gotten outstanding training here at the Medical Center.
I'm so impressed by the University Hospitals and Clinics. Your aggressive heart-health initiative ... your programs in nursing, pediatric medicine and family medicine ... these and so many other areas of expertise have equipped you, this year's graduates, to practice in your chosen fields with a level of competence and ability second to none.
Yours is a wonderful heritage. I think of Dr. Arthur Guyton, author of the most widely used textbook on physiology in the world ... and Dr. James D. Hardy, who performed the world's first human heart and lung transplant.
These leaders have built the University of Mississippi's Medical Center into an institution whose reputation goes far beyond the borders of Mississippi itself. And they have bestowed upon each of you a special trust - to serve capably and selflessly in the most remarkable era of medicine in history.
That's no overstatement. The advances we're making truly are staggering. Even a generation ago, they would have been merely the stuff of creative imagination, not hard science.
Let me share just a few examples:
Last year, we announced that a new drug called Gleevec has been approved for use in the cases of people with chronic myeloid leukemia, or C-M-L.
Gleevec marks the wave of the future because it is the first cancer drug that is the product of molecular targeting: the groundbreaking ability to deliver a drug directly to the diseased cells, leaving the healthy cells alone.
Gleevec targets a single cancer-causing protein and, like a light switch, turns off its signal to produce leukemia cells.
But Gleevec underscores a much broader and profoundly revolutionary trend. Our whole approach to cancer is being transformed.
For the past 100 years, we looked at cancer cells under microscopes and tried to figure out what we could about them. Today, we're decoding not only cancer but all diseases by their molecular structure. This is a radical about-face in the treatment of disease.
But Gleevec is really only a part of the next wave. Next year will mark a half-century since Watson and Crick discovered the basic structure of life. In just five decades we have gained a tremendous understanding about the molecular science of disease.
This truly is just the beginning. We are turning the letters of DNA into words, sentences, and paragraphs that, when properly interpreted, give answers to questions about ailments and illnesses that confound today's healthcare professionals.
You are those specialists of tomorrow. You are the ones who will take the whole field of genomics and transform it into a language that will radically alter the way we prevent, diagnose and treat a host of diseases.
So while one generation relied on the genetic code ... you have the newly revealed genome, augmented by far more powerful tools, including the ability to communicate worldwide within milliseconds.
Of course, you must use those tools within a certain context - the principles of human dignity and moral restraint that prevent their abuse.
We must never, in our enthusiasm for new technologies, forget our essential values. To do so is to exalt technique above humanity, and that we must never do.
And I should note that the remarkable developments that are taking place are occurring not just in distant labs, but in places like Jackson, right here at the Medical Center.
For example, many of your physicians and research scientists have been doing tremendous work on cardiovascular health.
The Jackson Heart Study involves the most significant research ever conducted on cardiovascular disease among African-Americans. When completed, more than 6,500 African-American adults will have participated.
Too little is known about the cardiovascular health of men and women of color. The Jackson Heart Study will change that ... will give us a breadth and depth of new knowledge concerning the way the heart functions in African-American adults.
And this effort is an important part of our nationwide efforts to eliminate health disparities in minority populations.
I'm especially proud that the study is being undertaken by this wonderful institution in partnership with two other regional schools, Jackson State University and Tougaloo College, and with the National Institutes of Health, which is a branch of my department.
We also can confirm something scientifically that we were all taught as children: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Studies show that if you lose 10 to 15 pounds and walk just 30 minutes a day, your chances of getting diabetes are reduced by nearly 60 percent.
We know that obesity and overweight significantly increase your chance of heart disease.
We know that smoking is linked directly to cancer and other life-threatening ailments.
So, my department has launched a major new preventive health initiative to encourage the American people to be active ... eat right ... and avoid smoking.
You don't need to become a decathlete - just become moderately and consistently active ... eat five fruits and vegetables a day ... and if you smoke, quit ... and if you don't smoke, don't start.
These are examples of what's taking place in every facet of medicine. But although the face of medicine is changing almost daily, the principles behind the practice of medicine are unchanging.
I'm thinking of service ... compassion ... an unrelenting commitment to relieve suffering, bring healing and provide hope.
Service, compassion and commitment to helping others can take many forms. Today, as I speak, brave Americans are serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere to continue eradicating the international terrorist network. We owe them our enduring freedom and the way of life we cherish.
Some of you have gone through your medical training under military fellowships and, soon, you will become military physicians, dentists and nurses.
Let me thank you, on behalf of our Commander in Chief and on my own behalf, for your service to our nation. Every one of us here is in your debt.
As you enter your residencies, begin your nursing careers or enter into the other fields of medical endeavor, let me urge you to consider joining the U.S. Public Health Service ... practicing in a community health center ... working in a rural health clinic ... serving abroad in the Peace Corps ... joining the Centers for Disease Control to work on public health and safety issues ... and serving those most vulnerable and at-risk.
One of your graduates is Brian Talley, who is about to receive his degree in dentistry. Brian will be joining the Indian Health Service - a branch of my department - to serve on a reservation in Montana.
Dr. Talley, on behalf of everyone here and on my own behalf, thank you for your willingness to serve our country.
The opportunities for service are boundless, and never has the need been greater. We need your talents and abilities as the citizens of our nation are faced with profound challenges to their health and well-being.
And we need all of you to work together, as a team. Dentists, physicians, nurses, administrators and scientists are all part of a common effort - to sustain health and bring healing.
Let me urge you to work together, to see one another not as competitors or as occupying different boxes on some organizational flow-chart, but as members of the same team. Your patients, not to mention your own enjoyment of your work, will depend on that spirit of cooperation and team-spiritedness.
Working as a team is vital because caring for our neighbors - men, women and children who share a common heritage and a common future - has never been important.
And remember, the patient is part of the team, too. The patient is not a body, but a whole person. The patient needs your listening ear as much as your intellectual knowledge and skilled hands.
In coming years, house calls will become more common ... empathy and counsel will be vital ... and the whole system of medicine will see significant changes. Your role will be more important than ever before. And even after your student loans have been paid, the gift you have received in these years at the Medical Center will remain priceless.
As always, physicians and dentists, as nurses and hospital administrators, your communities will hold you in high esteem. The example you set of service, sacrifice and moral concern will be seen by all and followed by many. Our children and grandchildren need to see this example, as well.
But even as I urge you to serve with passion, energy and ethical conviction, let me also urge you never to neglect the things that give your life balance and renewal. Consider the words of Dr. Matthew Foster, published a few years ago in the Medical Economics Journal:
"As I learned through hard experience, the practice of medicine is a black hole that can absorb every moment you will give. It's easy to become so devoted to your patients that you neglect the people who matter most to you."
My friends, that kind of stress can take a tremendous toll. For the sake of your families ... your patients ... and your own good health, don't let that happen to you.
When you feel discouraged, I urge you to consider the words of Winston Churchill. "Success is not final," he said. "Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts."
That courage can be found through faith ... family ... friendship ... and some good old-fashioned hobbies.
As for me, I jog ... I read history ... I ride my Harley-Davidson ... and yes, I wear a helmet. My Harley is a fine Wisconsin product, I might add.
Yours is a sacred trust, one that is confirmed in the taking of the Hippocratic Oath.
When you take the Oath, you are not merely re-enacting a historic ritual. You are defining the moral parameters of your vocation. Please, my friends, never fail to take the Oath with the utmost seriousness.
And as I look out on you today ... knowing the superb training you have received ... I am confident that you will fulfill the Hippocratic Oath with integrity, energy and ability.
You are the best of America. You are entering a field of great opportunity at a time of unparalleled potential for service.
Your families, your friends and your entire country are proud of you.
Thank you again so very much for letting me be with you today. May God bless you all, and may God bless America.