In this example of the many commencement addresses he delivered during his two terms as U.S. Surgeon General, Koop reminded his audience of the ethical commitments of physicians, including forging a supportive relationship with patients and their parents based on informed consent; ministering to patients in a health care system driven by scientific and technological advances that created distance between physicians and patients; helping parents cope with the financial burden imposed on families by costly operations and long-term care for children with birth defects; and ensuring quality of care in a time when the role of government in regulating health care and medicine was diminishing.
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