To Be Human Is to Care

Welcome back, dear colleague!

In the latest edition of our Courageous Conversations, our Pedja Stojicic spoke with Dr. Victor Montori, Mayo Clinic professor, global advocate for patient-centered care, and author of Why We Revolt?, about the state of healthcare in 2025 and why small fixes are no longer enough.

Victor calls today’s healthcare system an “industrialized monster”: one that extracts value and leaves both patients and clinicians depleted. But his message isn’t just a critique; it’s a call to action.

“To be human is to care,” he says. And that care must extend to the world, to our communities, and to ourselves. Efficiency has its place, in reducing administrative burdens, but in the exam room, the goal should be elegance: no hurry, no waste, moving at the rhythm of care.

A true healthcare revolution, Victor argues, begins when we stop asking What can I do? and start asking What can we do?—together. This “we” must include patients, caregivers, and clinicians alike, working locally to create change and sharing their wins through a global movement.

The bottom line: Burnout, both for clinicians and patients, is not a personal failing, it’s a symptom of a system that is not humanly sustainable. By uniting around that shared struggle, we can transform exhaustion into collective strength.

If you missed this conversation, it’s worth your time. It’s a reminder that while the challenges are massive, the movement we build together can be even greater.