Rward today with a feeling of peace about your future as a physician. My message is not just for you. It is also for your parents, your teachers, and everyone here who cares about you. They are the ones who taught you how to form relationships. If all of those gathered here on your behalf remember that relationships heal, they will know why you chose medicine and what is required of them to support you in your calling. So, be at peace, and allow yourself to reflect today on why you chose medicine. What was the inner voice that called you to this work, in this unique program, at this time? Some of you may have censored that inner voice and replaced it with a voice that others wanted to hear. Today, allow yourself the giftWHY MEDICINE?The Shared Context: Kaiser Permanente and the Columbia-get Chaetocin bassett ProgramHenry FC Weil, MD Perm J 2016 Winter;20(1):91-92 http://dx.doi.org/10.7812/TPP/15-145 Editor’s note: This commentary provides context for the commencement address delivered on May 17, 2015 in Cooperstown, NY, at a ceremony honoring the medical school graduates of the Columbia-Bassett Program of Columbia University’s College of Physician and Surgeons.The Columbia-Bassett Program, begun in 2010, is a unique medical school program within Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. The 4-year experience of the students in this program occurs in 2 sites: 1) in New York city at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and its affiliated health care facilities, situated in an urban community of roughly 14 million people Quinagolide (hydrochloride) site spread over several hundred square miles; and 2) in Cooperstown, NY, at the facilities of the Bassett Healthcare Network (Bassett), serving a rural community of approximately 200,000 people living across 5000 square miles. The 2 communities are a striking contrast to each other, as are the health care systems serving them. The College of Physicians and Surgeons operates in a traditional academic health center with a fee-for-service reimbursement model, whereas Bassett operates a network of geographically dispersed facilities with a salaried model that is similar in many respects to that of Kaiser Permanente (KP). In 1931, Bassett briefly established the third prepaid health plan in the US, insuring individuals and families for a set annual fee. Henry Kaiser, American industrialist and cofounder of KP, was born and raised in Sprout Brook, NY, just 19 miles from Cooperstown.(Continued on next page.)Henry FC Weil, MD, is the Senior Associate Dean at Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY, and is Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY. Dr Weil created and leads the Columbia-Bassett Medical School program. E-mail: [email protected] C Whitaker, MD, MPH, is Professor of Public Health and Pediatrics at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. E-mail: [email protected] Permanente Journal/ Winter 2016/ Volume 20 No.NARRATIVE MEDICINERelationships Healof finding your authentic voice, which called you to medicine. It is there; it is right inside you. Dr Henry Seidel would now be 92 years old. Henry was a pediatrician. He was my most beloved mentor. He was Dean of Student Affairs when I was a medical student at Johns Hopkins. In an interview he gave upon his retirement, he made a remarkable observation. He said, “In working with students, I wanted to get to know them. The method I knew best was to take a history of each. I had their records, butI needed.Rward today with a feeling of peace about your future as a physician. My message is not just for you. It is also for your parents, your teachers, and everyone here who cares about you. They are the ones who taught you how to form relationships. If all of those gathered here on your behalf remember that relationships heal, they will know why you chose medicine and what is required of them to support you in your calling. So, be at peace, and allow yourself to reflect today on why you chose medicine. What was the inner voice that called you to this work, in this unique program, at this time? Some of you may have censored that inner voice and replaced it with a voice that others wanted to hear. Today, allow yourself the giftWHY MEDICINE?The Shared Context: Kaiser Permanente and the Columbia-Bassett ProgramHenry FC Weil, MD Perm J 2016 Winter;20(1):91-92 http://dx.doi.org/10.7812/TPP/15-145 Editor’s note: This commentary provides context for the commencement address delivered on May 17, 2015 in Cooperstown, NY, at a ceremony honoring the medical school graduates of the Columbia-Bassett Program of Columbia University’s College of Physician and Surgeons.The Columbia-Bassett Program, begun in 2010, is a unique medical school program within Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. The 4-year experience of the students in this program occurs in 2 sites: 1) in New York city at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and its affiliated health care facilities, situated in an urban community of roughly 14 million people spread over several hundred square miles; and 2) in Cooperstown, NY, at the facilities of the Bassett Healthcare Network (Bassett), serving a rural community of approximately 200,000 people living across 5000 square miles. The 2 communities are a striking contrast to each other, as are the health care systems serving them. The College of Physicians and Surgeons operates in a traditional academic health center with a fee-for-service reimbursement model, whereas Bassett operates a network of geographically dispersed facilities with a salaried model that is similar in many respects to that of Kaiser Permanente (KP). In 1931, Bassett briefly established the third prepaid health plan in the US, insuring individuals and families for a set annual fee. Henry Kaiser, American industrialist and cofounder of KP, was born and raised in Sprout Brook, NY, just 19 miles from Cooperstown.(Continued on next page.)Henry FC Weil, MD, is the Senior Associate Dean at Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, NY, and is Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY. Dr Weil created and leads the Columbia-Bassett Medical School program. E-mail: [email protected] C Whitaker, MD, MPH, is Professor of Public Health and Pediatrics at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. E-mail: [email protected] Permanente Journal/ Winter 2016/ Volume 20 No.NARRATIVE MEDICINERelationships Healof finding your authentic voice, which called you to medicine. It is there; it is right inside you. Dr Henry Seidel would now be 92 years old. Henry was a pediatrician. He was my most beloved mentor. He was Dean of Student Affairs when I was a medical student at Johns Hopkins. In an interview he gave upon his retirement, he made a remarkable observation. He said, “In working with students, I wanted to get to know them. The method I knew best was to take a history of each. I had their records, butI needed.