I took up medicine because saving lives appealed to me. It probably had something to do with the sense of power that came with it. Now, some 35 years later, saving lives still preoccupies me, but in a far deeper way.

The opportunity to make a difference in other people’s lives, be they patients who are sick or ordinary people just wanting to be touched by another human being, gives me a sense of purpose that has nothing to do with power, but which gives me an even bigger power – the power to heal…and be healed.