When I graduated medical school at Penn in 1984, my advisor and mentor, Dr. Alden H. Harken, gave me a book called “In Search of Excellence.” On the inside cover, he wrote, “This is a very people-oriented book.” Dr. Harken always stressed the importance of prompt and proper communication with patients and their families. He then signed the book with words that I will never forget… words that have guided me through my career… simply put, he wrote, “Remember Ray, there’s a lot more to medicine than science.”

This video is about a special patient, Mr. Andrew Fazio, who underwent triple valve surgery, but needed a repeat operation on one of the valves only 4 years later. Often such a scenario might cause the patient to doubt the surgeon and seek care elsewhere. But instead, because of just a few kind words by me on a Sunday years ago, by just saying, “I’m here for you!” —made all the difference.

Mr. Fazio traveled from Scranton, PA, to Jefferson Einstein Montgomery, East Norriton, PA, for his second operation because of the faith and confidence he had in me. The lesson is, words do matter. They have a great impact. Teaching communication, empathy, and how to develop long-standing personal relationships with patients, families, and colleagues, are paramount, not only for success, but for the pure enjoyment of being a doctor. Thank you to Mr. Fazio for reminding me what really matters in healthcare.

“𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙤𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚,” —𝘼𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙃. 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙣, 𝙈𝘿, 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙮, 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙋𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙨𝙮𝙡𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖 𝙎𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝘾𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙮, 1984

Check out the follow up video with Anthony: 8 Week Follow-Up After Second Open Heart Surgery!