EP 314: Ken Burns on the Mayo Clinic Miracle

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns discusses his new film The Mayo Clinic: Faith Hope Science and tells incredible story of a country physician and a Franciscan nun who built the medical institution known as “The Miracle in Minnesota.” He talks about the natural disaster that led to the formation of the Mayo Clinic, their astounding success rate at a time when going to a hospital was considered a death sentence, and how Dr. W.W. Mayo and his staff innovated everything from sterilization and surgery right down to patient medical records. Then he reveals how the Mayo Clinic continues to take the profit motive out of medicine and put the focus back on the patient today, how an institution with more than 62,000 employees still manages to provide personalized care rather than treat people like a number, and why the doctors of the Mayo Clinic believe that faith and hope are every bit as essential to healing as science. Plus Ken Burns shares just a few of the touching testimonials from people whose lives were changed by the Mayo Clinic including one of the final interviews with the late Senator John McCain.

The Mayo Clinic: Faith Hope Science airs on PBS on Tuesday 9/25 at 9PM ET and airs again on Wednesday 9/26. For more information, visit www.pbs.org. Today’s episode was sponsored by Heineken, Emma Email Marketing, Bombas, and the Around the NFL podcast.