When I do an operation, it's half a dozen people. When it goes beautifully, it's like a symphony, with everybody playing their part.

You know, 97 percent of the time, if you come into a hospital, everything goes well. But three percent of the time, we have major complications.

No one looks at your hands to see how much they shake when you are interviewed to be a surgeon. The physical skills required are no greater than for writing cursive script. If an operation requires so much skill only a few surgeons can do it, you modify the operation to make it simpler.

People say that the most expensive piece of medical equipment is the doctor's pen. It's not that we make all the money. It's that we order all the money.

Human beings are social creatures. We are social not just in the trivial sense that we like company, and not just in the obvious sense that we each depend on others. We are social in a more elemental way: simply to exist as a normal human being requires interaction with other people.

Providing health care is like building a house. The task requires experts, expensive equipment and materials, and a huge amount of coordination.