To Secure the Future

Last May, my wife Barbara and I shared the unique and joyful experience of witnessing medical school commence-ment ceremonies at two separate, distinguished institutions of higher learning. We were there specifically to celebrate the graduations of our son-in-law at the Tulane University School of Medicine, who will be pursuing a career in emergency medicine, and our daughter at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who will begin her residency training in anesthesiology. The experience for me was far more than the great personal satisfaction and reward inherent in seeing your children succeed. I was continually drawn, almost compelled, to reflect upon my own medical school graduation more than three decades earlier, and the extraordinary opportunity, privilege and responsibility that a career in medicine brings to those individuals fortunate and determined enough to achieve that goal. I am certainly mindful and reasonably concerned about the tremendous cost, both opportunity and...