To set the stage for my remarks, I’d like to ask a question. What do you consider to be the most important medical advancement in recent memory? [The speaker should elicit responses from the audience.]

Thank you for your answers. Before I even asked the question, I would have been willing to bet that most of your answers would involve either technology or pharmacology. Most of us have been conditioned to think in terms of incredible inventions, such as MRI machines or CAT scanners as the most important advancements in medicine. The rest of us tend to think in terms of drugs – beginning with penicillin and the Salk vaccine, and continuing through everything from anti-rejection drugs to Viagra and Prozac.

But I would suggest to you that the most important medical breakthrough in recent memory involves neither technology nor drugs. I firmly believe that the wellness movement is the most important medical breakthrough. What could be more important than empowering individuals to heal themselves through lifestyle modifications and a positive outlook? To prove to them that they have the capacity not only to stay well, but also to heal themselves?

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