The genesis of my passion for health care started when I was very young and represents a continuous thread throughout my life. I think it may have started because when you truly help people, they often smile.

The genesis of my passion for health care started when I was very young and represents a continuous thread throughout my life. I think it may have started because when you truly help people, they often smile. And, getting smiles from others is a great way to live each day! Regardless, serving others is the focal point of my mission in life: to make a difference in the lives of people by working diligently to improve the human condition. This life mission statement hangs on the window of my office, as a constant reminder each and every day of my life. Through a host of experiences as a health care professional, I’ve had the opportunity to touch people’s lives in very personal ways by – helping them feel better, giving them support in times of need, tapping their inner spirit to face new challenges. What’s ironic is that with experience, I realized I could not make health care better for people without changing the system. So, I intentionally moved from providing direct care to people to work at the more global level of changing health care. Even doctors needs doctors to make the system better. While my passion continues for touching lives, I do it differently by changing the system to touch the lives… 

This essay and portrait is part of a community-art and leadership project called “wdydwyd?” Tony Deifell (KNLP-16) invited his colleagues in the Kellogg Fellowship to reflect on what motivates them to follow their personal and professional paths by answering the question, “Why do you do what you do?”


“wdydwyd?” has reached over 1.5 million people worldwide and it has been used for team-building at Google, Twitter, many colleges and universities, nonprofits and K-12 classrooms. And, according to Wired Magazine, “In Silicon Valley, that question has been the hottest team-building meme since Outward Bound – and it’s spreading.” For more information: http://wdydwyd.com/leadership.


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