07/25/2025
“Don’t think about the money. Just focus on getting people well. The rest will follow.”
At the time, I didn’t fully understand the weight of that advice. But over the years, those words have guided every decision I’ve made and they’ve proven true. My father was a cardiologist, the best in the country, to be precise. And that’s not just my opinion as his son. It was echoed by colleagues, affirmed by patients, and reflected in the many lives he helped extend and improve. He understood something vital: to take care of someone’s heart, you had to connect heart to heart. People trusted him because he led with relationships. He didn’t just ask “what’s the matter with you,” he asked “what matters to you.” He embodied a kind of patient-centered care that wasn’t just clinical, it was personal. I saw this growing up, from the phone calls in the middle of the night that sent him rushing to the hospital, to the quiet moments where he sat beside patients and simply listened. Before diagnosing, before prescribing, before treating, he gave them the most invaluable thing in the world: his full, intentional presence. My dad was able to hold space with the same care and attention he brought to interpreting an ECG: attuned to every signal, every silence, every sign of life. He was my role model. The blueprint for who I strive to be as both a person and a practitioner.
Let your success be rooted in service. Let your knowledge be led by empathy. And above all: lead with heart.
•
Honored to have delivered the Commencement Address for the graduates of Institute of Arts and Scienes and Institute of Health Sciences and Nursing 🙏
