WEBVTT - Dr. Vivek Murthy 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:06.080 Dr VIVEK. Morphey is the Surgeon General of the United States, 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:08.920 a position to which he was appointed by President Biden. 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:12.000 He previously was appointed and held the same position under 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.920 President Obama. Recently, I had a chance to sit down 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.919 with Dr Morphey discussed a number of health issues affecting 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.960 the United States, including COVID nineteen and mental health. I'm 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:25.599 here today with Dr VIVEK. Morphy, who is the Surgeon 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:27.920 General of the United States. Thank you very much for 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:30.360 giving us this time. Of course, David, I'm glad that 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.000 we're having this conversation. I am sorry that I can't 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:35.200 do this in person with you, but as you probably heard, 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:37.600 I did come down with COVID. I managed to dodge 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.520 it for two years. Uh. I don't know what happened, 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:43.120 but I guess my luck ran out. But is COVID 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:45.400 still a major problem in the United States? People like 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:48.279 me are still getting it. Well, David, first time, I'm 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.159 sorry that you have COVID. I from personal experience, I 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:54.360 know that, uh, you know, can can It's a serious thing, 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.400 and even though you're vaccinated and everything, sometimes you can 0:00:57.400 --> 0:00:59.760 have these break through infections and have mild symptoms. So 0:00:59.840 --> 0:01:02.520 I we should the best in your recovery. But you know, 0:01:02.560 --> 0:01:04.800 as a country, here's where we are. You know, we 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.520 have certainly come a long way in the last couple 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:12.360 of years. I still remember very clearly in March, when 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:15.080 more and more people were getting sick, when hospitals were 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:18.000 starting to fill up. We're seeing terrible scenes from New 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:20.360 York City in the months that followed UH, and we 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:22.360 didn't know a lot about the virus, and we didn't 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.640 really have treatments and much less vaccines. Fast forward now 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.960 to you know, a couple of years forward, and we 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:32.600 actually have these vaccines that are incredibly effective at keeping 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:35.240 people out of the hospital and saving their lives. Even 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.399 if you do get an infection after a vaccine, again, 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:40.600 the likelihood of you having a really bad outcome like 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:42.880 being in the hospital are dying from this virus are 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.640 much much lower. And you combine that with the treatments 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.760 that we now have available, treatments like packs livid UH, 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:52.840 and you find that most debts in from COVID nineteen 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:55.600 should be preventable at this point. So that is a 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.120 long way to come from where we were. With that said, 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.880 we are still losing several hundred people three to four 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:05.160 hundred people a day to COVID nineteen, and they tend 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:07.760 to be predominantly individuals who are not up to date 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.480 on their vaccines or who haven't received treatment. So we 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:13.120 still have more work to do, and especially with the 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:15.639 winter coming, we've seen the last couple of years there's 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.440 been an increase in cases during the winter. So that's 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:20.680 why we want people to be up to date with 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:23.600 their vaccines. We've got an updated vaccine right now, in fact, 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.800 that his tailored for the new omicron variant b A five. 0:02:27.480 --> 0:02:29.560 We want people to get that and to make sure 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:33.240 they have maximal protection when winter comes. Well, let me 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:35.640 ask you, and the early part of the COVID vaccine 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:39.120 COVID problem, people were dying in enormous numbers in the 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:41.280 United States. I think maybe now maybe more than a 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.320 million people have died in the United States, maybe five 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:47.200 million around the world. Was that in part because they 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.400 weren't vaccinated and the vaccination has made those who get it, 0:02:50.480 --> 0:02:52.960 like me um not as weak as we would have 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:56.600 been without the vaccination. Yeah, so that's a really good question. 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:59.240 So early on, before we had a vaccine, you know, 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:01.880 people didn't have real protection against this virus. They didn't 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:05.160 have prior infection with COVID nineteen. This is a new 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:09.440 coronavirus that had emerged on the scene, but now thankfully 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.720 UH those vaccines do give protection against the worst hot 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.520 coms of COVID. And this is actually an important point underscore, 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:17.959 which is what is the goal of a vaccine. Sometimes 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:19.839 people think if I get vaccine and then I get sick, 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.440 that means a vaccine didn't work. But it turns out 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:24.520 the most important goal of the vaccine is to save 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.560 your life, and by that measure, it's actually doing a 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:31.080 remarkable job to keep the protection that people have. Though 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.200 it's important for them to stay updated with their vaccines, 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.000 and we've seen that over time that the COVID vaccine, 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:40.920 like many other vaccines, that its effectiveness can wane over time, 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:42.600 which is why I just like you've got a tetanus 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:45.320 booster or you've got an annual flu shot, it's important 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:48.160 to be up to date with your COVID vaccines as well. 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:50.880 So the bottom line is these are life saving tools 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.280 that we now have, the vaccines and the treatments, and 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:55.960 by you know, depending on what calculation you look at, 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:59.120 we have saved hundreds of thousands of lives in the 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:03.160 United States own because of the vaccination being available and 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:06.360 the vaccination campaign that was mounted to get people protected. Now, 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:09.240 did you ever get COVID? I did get COVID. Yes, 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:14.360 In fact, in earlier this year, in early two, my 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:16.400 wife and my two kids and I all got COVID 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.200 and we actually know how it happened. It turns out 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:21.919 my daughter, who was four years old and was in 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:27.080 pre kindergarten at the time, she ended up catching the 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.640 virus from somebody in her classroom. It's really challenging, you know, 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.800 if you're a family, especially a family with small children, uh, 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:36.400 to prevent yourself from getting infected, it's worth trying, and 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.120 we certainly did, you know as well. But end of 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:41.320 the day, you know, you're taking care of your child. 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:43.039 You've got a hold and comfort them when they're ill, 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:44.880 and that puts to a red risk, you know, if 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:48.360 you've got small kids, and many parents have experiences. So 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.800 thankfully we were all uh, you know, vaccinated except my 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:53.839 daughter at the time. There was not a vaccine yet 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:56.680 for kids her age, but the rest of us were 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.040 vaccine and thankfully we had a mild course of illness. 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:02.599 But me you know even more respect, um, for this 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:05.880 virus is somebody it should be taken seriously, because again, 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:08.120 even with the protection we had, you know, we were 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:11.000 knocked out for several days there. Now, did you tell 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.159 your four year old daughter that she had infected the 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.800 Surgeon General of the United States and that she recognized 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.440 the consequences of that. Oh, to my daughter, I'm just 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:22.200 her dad who she sometimes pays attention to when her 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:25.360 mom's not around. So I'm not sure she's so aware 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:28.159 of what I do. But you know, it was also 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:30.520 to your point, David, it was just a very humanizing moment, 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:33.000 you know, like I had been working on COVID for 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:35.720 you know, the better part of you know, a year 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:38.680 at that point, um, but you know, to to be 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.720 able to go through uh this you know, experience as well, 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:45.080 just giving giving even more understanding and empathy for folks 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:47.320 out there who are not just getting sick, but who 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.840 are trying to manage their family responsibilities while they're ill. 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.320 Whether it's getting their kids, you know, you know, you know, 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:55.680 it to school, whether it's making sure that they're managing work, 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:59.160 whether it's taking care of elderly relatives. The ripple effects 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:01.760 of getting sick are significant and uh, and that was 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:04.280 certainly something that I have kept with me ever since 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:06.039 I was ill. Let me ask you about what it 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:08.360 means to be the Surgeon General of the United States. 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.720 You're not a surgeon and you're not a general, So 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:14.839 why are you called the surgeon general? What is the 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:17.400 surgeon General's job? And one of the jobs of the 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:19.599 surgeon General, and the reason in fact why I wear 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:23.119 this uniform, is to oversee the US Public Health Service 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.880 Commission Corps. This is one of the eight uniformed services 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:29.200 in the United States government. It consists of six thousand 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:32.240 officers who are dedicated to improving public health each and 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:35.080 every day in their day jobs. But we also deploy 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.320 them during times of emergency, so we send them with 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.720 their hurricanes and tornadoes that hit towns, we will send 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:45.320 officers there to help provide basic care, and routinely during 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.359 COVID nineteen, we've deployed thousands of officers to help with 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:51.680 everything from vaccinations to supporting health care systems. So that 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.359 is one of the jobs of the Surgeon General. The 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:58.880 other job, though, is to inform the public about critical 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:00.919 public health issues that are rise and this could be 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:03.600 informing them about how to prevent, uh, if you yourself 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:06.240 from getting sick, how to manage an illness when it arises. 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:08.800 Certainly with COVID that has been an important part of 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:12.120 my work, but increasingly my focus has been on the 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:15.280 broader issues of mental health and well being, which have 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:17.960 taken a hard hit during the COVID pandemic, but which 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.600 we're real struggle for a country. Even before then, you 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:25.480 were the surgeon General under President Obama, and you served 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.120 under President Obama and did a very good job. I'll 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:30.920 talk about that in the moment. And then uh, President 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:34.840 Obama left the office after eight years, and President Biden 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.720 came in four years later, and then he asked you 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.800 to be surgeon general again. Did you tell him you've 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:42.800 already done that job once and why did you want 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.640 to do it again? And were you surprised that that 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.920 that they wanted you to do the same job again. Well, 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:51.920 got it's an interesting question. I certainly had not planned 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.920 to come back and serve as Surgeon General again. I 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:57.400 you know, I had always told myself when I had 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.040 the privilege of serving the first time, that this is 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.120 a once in a lifetime and experience. I didn't know 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.120 it would be a twice in a lifetime experience. But 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:06.080 you know, the pandemic really scrambled everyone's lives, including mine. 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.200 While it wasn't in a difficult decision when he asked 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.480 me to serve, and it was certainly a big decision, 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:14.280 had big implications for my family, certainly, and I was 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.840 aware of that having served the time before. But I'll 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:18.800 tell you, David, it was one of those moments where 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:21.640 and the throes of a crisis that was up ending 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.360 our country in the world. You know, I felt that 0:08:24.720 --> 0:08:28.120 it was my responsibility and our collective responsibilities to all 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:30.800 do as much as we could to address this crisis. 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.600 I was being given an opportunity to uh serve and 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:35.840 hopefully to help, you know, at a larger scale, and 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:37.880 I wanted to to make sure I did that. What 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:39.920 was in the head my head at that time, David, 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.000 was really the voice of my my parents and really 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:44.960 the example that they had set for me when I 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:47.440 was growing up, which they set again more through what 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.840 they did rather than what they said. But they had 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:51.760 always sort of taught me through their actions. And whenever 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:55.520 your community is in need, it is our responsibilities to 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:57.280 step up and do as much as we can. It 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.080 might only be a little that we can do in 0:08:59.120 --> 0:09:01.240 that moment, but all of us have to step up 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.360 and serve in some way. So let's talk about your 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.200 parents and your background. Where did you grow up. I 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:09.960 grew up in Miami, Florida, will move there when I 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:12.840 was three years old. I went to public schools, you know, 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:17.520 all throughout through high school, and my parents they ran 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:20.800 a medical practice there that my uh dad mom had 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:23.400 set up when I was in elementary school and uh 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:25.520 and that sort of was a pivotal, uh sort of 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:27.080 experience for me because I spent a lot of time 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:29.360 there as a kid, and it shaped my excitement and 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:32.760 interest for pursuing medicine later in life. And we're both 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:36.240 your parents medical doctors. So my father is a doctor. 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:39.320 He's a family medicine doctor. My mother actually did her 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.520 degree in English literature. But we like to say that 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:46.439 she's an inherent healer herself because it comes naturally to her. 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:49.200 And as somebody who ran my dad's clinic for many 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:51.800 years there, the patients and the clinic all came to 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:54.559 know her and to trust her. So did you always 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:56.400 want to be a doctor when you were in elementary 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.199 school in high school, did you know that was your calling? Well, 0:09:59.360 --> 0:10:01.520 I was really in fired by my parents early on 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:03.960 to become a doctor, and that's you know, for much 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:06.880 of grade school, that was pretty clear that that's what 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:08.960 I wanted to do. But towards the end of high 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.520 school things changed a little bit. I started to get 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:15.040 really interested in English literature. I got really interested in 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:17.559 history and in economics as well, and I went to 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:20.120 college thinking that I might want to pursue something in 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:22.599 one of those three fields. So I took classes and 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:25.440 you know, in economics and in history and was you know, 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:27.800 really trying to get a sense of whether that would 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:30.160 be my path. But what happened actually in between was 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:33.000 interesting that shifted things for me, which is that my 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:36.440 freshman year, my father called me and he said, you know, 0:10:36.480 --> 0:10:40.080 there's this philanthropist who is looking for a cause that 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.079 he wants to support, but he doesn't know what the causes. 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:44.080 So he said, if you have any ideas that you 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:46.280 want to work on, there may be an opportunity for 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:49.760 you to build something with his support. And I thought 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:51.480 about it, and I had actually been working on some 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:54.640 HIV projects when I was in high school and had 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:57.240 been visiting India, where my family is originally from, and 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:01.079 realized actually after high school that the crisis was really exploding. 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.000 So my sister and I ended up developing an idea 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:08.240 to build a education program around HIV in India that 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.360 would be a peer education program. This is it's commonplace now. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:14.320 Is more unusual then, but the idea of bringing UH 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:16.880 you know, peers together and training them to actually go 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.800 out and and inform college and high school students around 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:23.120 the community was novel then in India, but it's something 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:24.839 that we decided to be wanted to try to build, 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.480 and that was the project we ultimately we're able to 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:30.280 get funding for UH. We built that, ran it for 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:33.120 eight years, built chapters around India and the United States 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:36.000 as well, and that changed my perception and my my 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:37.680 feeling about what I wanted to do in the world. 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.199 And it brought me back to health and to wanting 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:42.760 to not only become a doctor, but to to build 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.360 programs and communities that would hopefully have a large, scalable 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.160 impact on public health. I assume you were a reasonably 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.400 good student in high school. I think you were valegatory 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.600 and of your classes at right. Yes, guilty is charged, 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:56.880 and so did you want to go to Harvard? Was 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:58.760 at your first choice? Which is where you went to 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.360 the school? Cool reason actually came to learn a little 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:04.520 bit about Harvard is I had my best friend in 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.920 high school, Miriam. Miriam went to this, Uh, she was 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:10.360 interested in going to this summer school program at Harvard. 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:12.360 We all end up going to this Harvard summer school 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:14.840 program between junior and senior year and it was a 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:18.040 really wonderful experience. But that's what actually made me think, hey, 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:20.000 maybe this would be a great place to come to 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:23.440 college if I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity. So, uh, 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:25.719 that's why I applied to Harvard. I was fortunate to 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.280 be given an opportunity to attend uh, and I had 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:31.520 a great experience there. And then after Harvard, you went 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:34.760 to medical school at Yale? I did? I did? Yeah? 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:36.640 And how did you happen to pick Yale was a 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:40.319 place to go? You got tired of Cambridge? Well, this 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:44.839 is this is also an interesting experience. It was you know, 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:47.080 I actually wanted to go to Harvard Medical School because 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.000 I was doing research there when I was in college 0:12:49.040 --> 0:12:52.400 and I had you know, I just decided for myself 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:54.719 that that was the right place for me to be. Um, 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:57.480 even though I didn't have exposured other institutions, and UM, 0:12:57.760 --> 0:13:00.439 it turned out I did not get into Harvard Medical School. Uh, 0:13:00.480 --> 0:13:03.040 and I was I still remember that coming home on 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.960 this day and opening the letter and seeing that it 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.960 was a rejection, and I was so crushed. And I 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:12.400 called my father and he said, UM. He said to me, 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:14.120 He's like, I know you're really upset about this, but 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.079 something good will come of this because you'll be able 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:19.840 to go somewhere else and get a different kind of exposure. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:21.760 This is going to help you grow. And I was 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:25.200 fortunate to, you know, be given a chance to attend Yale. 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:27.800 It became one of the most powerful educational experiences of 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:29.640 my life, not just because of what I learned in 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.559 the classroom, but because of these incredible relationships that I 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:34.640 built at this community that I was part of, and 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:36.480 then I continue to still feel like I'm a part of, 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:38.960 even many years after the fact. So have you ever 0:13:39.000 --> 0:13:41.800 seen the admissions officer from Harvard Medical School and told 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:46.280 him that he missed on the two times Surgeon General? Oh? God, No, no, 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:49.240 I haven't, but I know that there's Look, there's a 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:52.760 degree of randomness number one to admissions processes. And I 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:55.720 always uh tell young people now who are going to 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:58.360 school that you should never like assume that whether or 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.000 not you get into school or not as a measure 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:03.240 of your worth and your value because again, having now 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:05.920 served on admissions committees, I know that there's a degree 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:07.800 of randomness. They are good people who don't get in 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:10.560 and there uh you know, and and that's just the 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:12.480 way it is. And many people, when you're a class 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.480 at Harvard went into something also important called private equity. 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:18.960 You were never tempted by that. Well, you know, I 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.200 was interested in in a lot of things, David. You know, 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:24.680 after I finished my residency program, I actually ended up 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:28.200 taking uh some time and building a company and technology 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:30.840 company that I ran for with some colleagues for about 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:35.000 seven years to help use technology to actually advance uh 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:38.280 clinical research and clinical trials in particular. So I've always 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:41.680 had an interest you know, in uh in building businesses 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.280 and in building taking innovations that could actually help people 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:46.760 and bring them to scale. Uh. So you know, who 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.600 knows what the future holds, but uh uh and maybe 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:51.440 one day I'll come get some advice from you, David. 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:53.840 What advice would you have for a young person who 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:55.840 says I want to inspire to a career like yours. 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:59.080 Find a problem that you care about and try to 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.360 help address it in whatever small way you can. You've 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:03.800 been the Surgeon General twice, but what would you like 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:06.240 to see as the legacy that you leave behind for 0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:10.160 future surgeon generals or further people generally what you've done 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:14.760 with your life. Gosh, that's a great question, David. Um. 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.680 I'll tell you what my greatest concern is. Where I 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:22.640 hope to make the greatest contribution UM is actually more 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.440 around the core set of values that we build and 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.480 design society around in our lives around UH. And this 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:30.360 is a very personal thing for me because I think 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:32.480 about my two children, David, and about the world they're 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.520 growing up in, and I, like many other parents, UM, 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:38.480 worry at times. I look at the vitriol and the 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:41.080 polarization and so much of the hatred in our world, 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:43.400 and I ask myself, is my child going to grow 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.800 up in a world where people are kind, where they're embracing, 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:50.640 where they don't condemn my child because they made one mistake, UM, 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:52.360 but they give them a chance and given the benefit 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:56.240 of the doubt. We need to build a society David, 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.840 that is firmly grounded in kindness and compassion and in 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.000 of and we need to build our workplace culture is 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:04.800 to reflect that. We need to build our education systems 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:08.080 to support that. And we need to also support parents 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:10.520 because they are really struggling right now. Is they seek 0:16:10.560 --> 0:16:13.480 to give, you know, support on a foundation for well 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:15.960 being to their kids. So my hope going forward, if 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.440 there's anything I could contribute to, it would be to 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:22.680 emphasizing and underscoring those values as we seek to redesign 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:24.960 our lives in society. We have a once in a 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:29.240 generation opportunity David, in this pandemic, when people are taking 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:32.120 stock of their lives and re and ask themselfs a 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:33.520 question what kind of world do I really want to 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.960 live in? We have a chance to go back and 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:38.200 to say, hey, what can we tweak in our lives? 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:40.520 How do we want to recenter our lives around a 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:42.920 core set of values? Is our chance to build a 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.440 better life and a better world, uh than we had 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:48.400 pre pandemic for us, but also for today. What do 0:16:48.440 --> 0:16:51.640 you consider the biggest health challenge facing the United States 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.240 and the people in the United States? You know, It's 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.560 a great question. I mean, there are so many challenges 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:00.280 we're dealing with. Obviously, we're still dealing with the ndemic, 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:03.120 and we need to be make sure that we're prepared 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.560 for the next one that may come down the line. 0:17:05.680 --> 0:17:08.240 We have a whole bevy of chronic illnesses that people 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.199 are struggling with, from obesity to heart disease. But the 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:15.160 one that's actually most on my mind, uh and which 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.719 I'm most deeply concerned about, that I see as foundational 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:20.399 to our health, is actually the mental health crisis that 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.160 we have in our country. It turns out that when 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.119 you struggle with your mental health, uh as certainly I 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:28.399 have at points in my life, and I've taken care 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:30.199 of many patients over the years who struggle with their 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.480 mental health. But when you struggle with your mental health, 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:35.359 it doesn't just impact how you feel. It impacts your 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.399 physical health as well. It impacts how you show up 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:41.919 at work. I can impact productivity, absentee is um in 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:45.080 the workplace, and also impacts how our children perform in 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:48.679 school and how they learn, and so however you cut it, 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:50.600 I think of our mental health is the fuel that 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.639 allows us to show up for our family and friends 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.400 for you know, our community, and when our mental health 0:17:56.480 --> 0:18:00.840 is negatively impacted, it compromises, uh, you know, all those fronts, 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:02.960 and that's what we're dealing with right now. You know, 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.400 if you look at the numbers, uh, David, they're they're 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:08.639 really staggering, especially among youth, you know, right. You know, 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:11.879 if you look at the population overall, about five of 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:16.800 people in twenty had suicidal ideations, they contemplated taking their 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:19.439 own life. You look at kids in particular, and you 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:21.560 see that there was a fifty seven percent increase in 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:25.320 the suicide rate in the ten years preceding the pandemic, 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.800 and things have gotten more challenging for many kids now. 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:29.840 When I worked in the White House for President Carter, 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.679 his wife roseland Carter headed a mental health task force, 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.879 and it was seen at the time as somewhat unusual 0:18:37.160 --> 0:18:39.520 for a first lady to be interested in that subject, 0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:42.439 and in part she had always been interested in it, 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:46.320 and she recognized her was a stigma attached to mental health. 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.800 Now we're forty five years later. But do you think 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:52.840 there's still a stigma attached to mental health as opposed 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:56.840 to physical health problems? Well? I do, David. I think 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:00.439 It's gotten better, certainly than it was years ago, but 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:03.480