Gary Bisbee, Ph.D.: Thanksgiving is a time for friends, family, and food. Of course, including my favorite side dish: cranberry relish. However, it’s also a time for introspection.

The Thanksgiving Holiday provides an opportunity to reflect on what we are most thankful for. To be thankful to the healthcare and frontline workers that are helping put the pandemic in the rearview mirror. To be thankful to the mentors and peers that help us grow in our professional lives. And to be thankful to the friends and family that fill our time with joy.

For this special thanksgiving episode, we asked healthcare leaders what they are thankful for this year.

Leslie Norwalk is a Strategic Advisor at Epstein Becker & Green.

Leslie Norwalk: It’s really hard to get beyond the cliche of friends and family. You know, I recently lost my father a couple of a couple months ago and it highlights the importance of my sister in particular and my nieces but my whole extended family and my friends who have been really supportive and it’s just a reminder that you know, we’re not here forever and so to hold your your loved ones close. So I think it’s, it may again may be a little cliche, but it’s hard not to be most grateful for friends and family. (40 seconds)

Gary Bisbee, Ph.D.: Stephen Beeson, M.D. is the founder and CEO of Practicing Excellence.

Stephen Beeson, M.D.: You know, I’m certainly thankful for a chance to do everyday what I love and to be able to see a ripple effect play out in the world. And I feel just incredibly grateful for that. And I would say consistent with the journey as a founder I am grateful for the pain points that I’ve been through that have allowed me to realize what’s actually important in life. And, and that’s the founding of a business and the roller coaster of the early days. And it allowed me to focus on the things that actually matter. And so now I can not crawl up the wrong ladder, I pursuit of life, and to focus on relationships and impact and purpose and being who I know I need to be. So I’m grateful for those pain points in my life, and certainly my family and my puppies (1 minute)

Gary Bisbee, Ph.D.: John Halamka, M.D., M.S. is President of Mayo Clinic Platform.

John Halamka, M.D., M.S.: So this may be a peculiar answer, but it’s a heartfelt answer. And that is, I’m a 60 year old person. What do I want to do for the next 20 years? Mentor those who will replace me, right? Because I don’t think of retirement or chasing golf balls on some course somewhere. I ask, what is the impact I can have while I’m alive? What is the impact I can have when I’m gone? So I’m most thankful for at this stage in my career, when I am at Mayo Clinic, and I have 73,000 colleagues, but I also have the entire informatics community in the digital health community. There is an enormous talent pool of young people who are going to replace me. And I’m so thankful for all the time that I get to spend with them. And it’s interesting because they say, Oh, you must have all the right answers. And when I tell them, It’s no actually I’ve made a lot more mistakes than you have. So maybe I can tell you what not to do. So that you will go out and make me proud. So so happy that I can mentor those who are going to be our next generation.

Gary Bisbee, Ph.D.: All of at Think Medium want to say a special thank you to our hosts, guests, and you, our audience, for being a part of our journey. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!