September 2017

EXTRA: A Human President By Leonard Zwelling It’s going to be all right. That’s the message that I distilled from Dr. Peter Pisters’ town hall on September 27 at MD Anderson, his first address to the collective Anderson community since being named president. I came hopeful. I was not disappointed. For forty-five minutes Dr. Pisters […]

Why Wouldn’t The MD Anderson Faculty Take A Collective Knee? : Will They The Next Time? By Leonard Zwelling Of course, it’s about race. Colin Kaepernick’s original protest at the time of the playing and singing of the national anthem before an NFL game was all about the manner in which black people are treated

A Real Conversation: The Value Of Competition In Health Care By Leonard Zwelling Today I had a unique experience. I had a real conversation with a learned man whose politics and mine do not align. We discussed health care reform and the various forces in play in America today that are changing the way doctors

Reunion Stories: To Be Taken Seriously Then and Now By Leonard Zwelling I have been married to the same woman for forty-five years. Our life together has been both challenging and rewarding and I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. But, sometimes, one forgets that one’s spouse had a life before she married. That life

The President’s Speech By Leonard Zwelling Everyone present at MD Anderson in 2011 remembers the early speeches of Dr. DePinho. He was going to cure five cancers in five years with his Moon Shot strategy and he had the video to prove it. Fortunately, most of the learned gathered in the auditorium saw through this

What Do You Do First? By Leonard Zwelling There’s a lot to be done at MD Anderson. Making a problem list for this newly freed patient (the cancer center) doesn’t take the best resident in the class. First, there’s the money. How does one guarantee a positive revenue stream in a large, academic cancer center

Flood By Leonard Zwelling When describing the floods in Houston for friends outside the area, I resorted to only one word. Biblical. When water piles up in the midst of a hurricane, that is not a surprise. The wind whips the trees and the true force of nature is felt. The rain is just part

Wait By Leonard Zwelling It may be among the commonest words in pop music after “love.” Even the Beatles used it. It has also got to be one of the most frustrating words in the English language. Very few people I know like to wait. It implies patience, but it may be the opposite of

My Four Homes By Leonard Zwelling It’s where they have to take you in when no one else will. That’s home. I have one house, but four homes. The house is in Bellaire, but my heart has four homes—four places it feels it can return to when an emotional boost is needed. Houston is still

America’s Choices In North Korea Are Similar To The Ones Facing Academic Medical Centers: Bad and Worse By Leonard Zwelling Kim Jong Un is often described as irrational. He’s not. Kim has the US exactly where he wants it. America is faced with bad choices regarding North Korea and also worse ones. For over twenty