Show Notes
As Dr. Murthy prepares to conclude his term as Surgeon General, the moment is , the moment is bittersweet: serving as Surgeon General has been the honor of his lifetime, and saying goodbye is hard.
For this second-to-last episode of House Calls, he calls on his my moai – friends and fellow physicians Dave Chokshi and Sunny Kishmore – to reflect on the issues he took and how serving as Surgeon General has shaped him. Dr. Murthy also shares his final act as Surgeon General: offering a Parting Prescription for America. It is a summary of what I have learned from my two terms, and what I believe will help heal the pain many people across our country are experiencing right now.
(02:51) How is Dr. Murthy feeling days before his time in office ends? (04:59) What did it feel like to be asked to serve a second term as Surgeon General? (06:41) What was Dr. Murthy’s approach to figuring out what he wanted to work on in his second term? (09:48) What aspect of his work as Surgeon General does Dr. Murthy feel particularly resonated with the people he has served? (15:47) What did Dr. Murthy learn from his first term as Surgeon General that he brought to his second? (19:37) What was the biggest challenge of being Surgeon General? (21:33) What does Dr. Murthy think his children will remember about this time? (23:53) How has Dr. Murthy influenced the role of Surgeon General? (25:53) What personally caused Dr. Murthy angst while he was serving as Surgeon General? (33:35) What was the impact of his work on his family? (39:17) What is the power of unconditional love? (43:41) What is U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy’s “Parting Prescription”
For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.
For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.
Dr. Dave Chokshi, Physician & Public Health Leader
Twitter: @davechokshi
Dr. Sandeep (Sunny) Kishore, Physician-Scientist
Twitter: @sandeep_kishore
Instagram: @sunnyk5
About Dr. Dave Chokshi & Dr. Sunny Kishore
Dr. Dave A. Chokshi is a practicing physician and public health leader who most recently served as the 43rd Health Commissioner of New York City. From 2020-2022, he led the City’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including its historic campaign to vaccinate over 6 million New Yorkers. Previously, Dr. Chokshi was the inaugural Chief Population Health Officer at the largest public healthcare system in the nation. He has held successive senior leadership roles that span the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. A Rhodes Scholar and White House Fellow, he is nationally recognized as a transformational leader, a clinical innovator, a policy expert, and a fierce advocate for a stronger and more equitable health system.
Dr. Sandeep (Sunny) Kishore is a physician-scientist at the University of California, San Francisco. He has worked on closing the “know-do” gap and translating scientific insights into real-world applications with focus on chronic disease prevention & control. Currently, he is focused on developing a scalable treatment algorithm for blood pressure control to improve cardiometabolic health for primary care clinics across the University of California. His work has led to the addition of over ten treatments to the Essential Medicines List of the World Health Organization (WHO) for cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and mental illness. He also has provided technical guidance to Resolve to Save Lives with a focus on fixed dose combinations for blood pressure and led large global networks focused on reducing the toll of chronic illness worldwide.
Dr. Kishore completed his medical and graduate training at Weill Cornell/Rockefeller/Sloan-Kettering Institute and Oxford, undertook his clinical training at Yale and Brigham & Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School and has held fellowships at Harvard, Yale and the Dalai Lama Center at MIT. He currently resides in the Bay Area with his wife.
More from House Calls with Dr. Vivek Murthy
As Dr. Murthy's term as the 21st U.S. Surgeon General comes to a close, House Calls is ending, too.
On a recent trip to India, the Surgeon General sat down with the delightful and inspiring father-daughter duo of Aamir and Ira Khan. Aamir is a renowned and beloved actor and producer, appearing in some of India’s biggest films. Ira Khan is founder of the Agatsu Foundation, a peer support and counseling center in Mumbai.
“You can re-imagine anything.” This was life advice that fashion designer Phillip Lim was given by his mother. His family escaped the Khmer Rouge and came to America as refugees. They had no resources and had to start over from scratch. Somehow, Phillip rose to become one of the most successful fashion designers in the world. He started his label 3.1 Phillip Lim with his business partner when they were both just 31 years old. In this heartfelt episode of House Call, we catch Phillip in a moment of evolution, surprising the fashion world by stepping away from his company and starting a new, unknown chapter in his life. As he opens up about his continuous journey of becoming, of re-imagining his life, Phillip and the Surgeon General ponder: how do you distinguish between success and fulfillment? How does being part of a community help our mental health? Why is creativity and sense of play so important? What is the connection between beauty and the values we live? While they come from very different worlds of medicine and fashion, Phillip and the Surgeon General are both guided by love of community, a desire to help others, and the inspiration of their mothers. (02:46) What role has Phillip Lim’s mom played in his life? (06:20) How did Phillip Lim maintain a sense of optimism in his early life? (09:20) How did curiosity and creativity put Phillip Lim on an unexpected path? (15:27) How did Phillip Lim navigate the competitive world of fashion? (18:54) What practices does Phillip Lim use to stay grounded? (23:02) What is the difference between success and fulfillment for Phillip Lim? (26:33) How can we find the courage to make big life changes? (31:58) How is Phillip Lim building community and advocating for mental health? (42:32) What message does Dr. Murthy have for Phillip Lim’s mother? (48:05) Phillip Lim asks Dr. Murthy for advice on empowering others to be seen, heard, and show up for each other. We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at [email protected] with your feedback & ideas. For more episodes, visit www.surgeongeneral.gov/housecalls.
Do you feel you can no longer talk with people who hold different opinions? Has anger become the predominant tone? If we want this to change, how can we as individuals, change the way we talk and connect when we differ?
How do we find that fulfilment in a modern world where so many of us often feel lonely and unsure of our self-worth? For this bonus episode of House Calls, we share excerpts from a conversation between the Surgeon General and yogi & spiritual leader Sadhguru as they discuss what it means to live a fulfilling life.