Ideas worth spreading

How do we heal medicine?

2,292,669 views |

Atul Gawande |

TED2012

• March 2012

Our medical systems are broken. Doctors are capable of extraordinary (and expensive) treatments, but they are losing their core focus: actually treating people. Doctor and writer Atul Gawande suggests we take a step back and look at new ways to do medicine -- with fewer cowboys and more pit crews.

Our medical systems are broken. Doctors are capable of extraordinary (and expensive) treatments, but they are losing their core focus: actually treating people. Doctor and writer Atul Gawande suggests we take a step back and look at new ways to do medicine -- with fewer cowboys and more pit crews.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Atul Gawande

Surgeon, writer, public health innovator

See speaker profile

Surgeon and public health professor by day, writer by night, Atul Gawande explores how doctors can dramatically improve their practice using approaches as simple as a checklist – or coaching.

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This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.