Everybody Is a Caregiver (ft. Toby Cosgrove)

DGTL Voices with Ed Marx

In this episode of DGTL Voices, Dr. Toby Cosgrove, former CEO of Cleveland Clinic and renowned cardiac surgeon, shares his transformative journey from academic struggles

Key takeaways

• Dyslexia was a hidden barrier in college but became less impactful in medical school due to different learning demands.
• Leadership can be forged in high-pressure environments like wartime casualty staging, where coordination and care delivery are critical.

Main topics

• Personal adversity and dyslexia
• Vietnam War service as a flight surgeon

Notable quotes

"Why do I get paid? Why do we have a hospital? Why do we have a clinic? Why are we all here for patients? And that's the only reason we're there."

Conclusion

Dr. Toby Cosgrove's story underscores that leadership emerges from resilience, purpose, and

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) You've replicated so many leaders that left and gone to other fantastic institutions as CEOs. That's always a hallmark to me of a great leader, someone who can replicate themselves. I see three major problems with healthcare right now. 40% of the hospitals are running in the red and it's too expensive for patients. There's 2 million unfilled jobs in healthcare across the country. The explosion in knowledge, the total amount of knowledge in healthcare doubles every 73 days. Last year there were 1.8 million medical articles written. Why do I get paid? Why do we have a hospital? Why do we have a clinic? Why are we all here for patients? And that's the only reason we're there. Speaker 1 (0:39) Welcome to Digital Voices, where healthcare and life science leaders explore the real work behind transformation. This podcast is about people, leadership, and the conversations that move healthcare forward. Now your host, Ed Marks. Welcome to another edition of Digital Voices. So excited for this one because it's like one of my heroes and former boss, Dr. Toby Cosgrove. Toby, welcome to Digital Voices. It's good to be with you, Ed. Speaker 1 (1:08) I know. I have such great memories. That's kind of how we first met was via the Cleveland Clinic. I still remember the first time meeting you. I still remember the interview questions and some of the things that happened. You read to me a patient letter. You probably might not remember that. But while we were in the interview, you read to me a patient letter. And it was quite eye-opening and fun and super interesting. And it's like, man, this is where I want to serve. And so that's how we first met. And then I enjoyed our relationship ever since then because that was like almost 10 years ago. Speaker 1 (1:37) It's been great. But Toby, before we get into all the questions we have set up for you, everyone will want to know what songs are on your playlist. Like what kind of music? I'm a real retro guy. You know, I have to say my favorite song is Emerson Lake and Palmer with Lucky Man. And do you know that that song was written by Lake when he was 12 years old? No. Wow. I did not know that. Very cool. I listen to a lot of jazz now. Yeah. Well, now I got Lucky Man going through my brain. It's a beautiful song, the lyrics and the music, melody, everything. What about life message or mantra? Are there words that sort of guide you in how you live? Yeah, I, you know, I was heavily influenced by, obviously all of us are by our parents. And, you know, my dad told me, look, you know, you're supposed to leave the world a better place and be a contributor. And so that's really sort of driven me from that. Speaker 1 (2:35) Get go. So, Toby, as as we sort of get into career and leadership before we get there, tell us about yourself. Like, what's your story? Are you a Cleveland boy? You know, where did you grow up? All that kind of stuff. Well, I grew up in Watertown, New York, which is not the end of the earth, but you can see it from there. It's a small town of about 30,000. I went to the local high school there and played sports and then went on to Williams College. where I was a disaster in almost every respect. Athletically, I played four years of basketball and anchored one end of the bench. Then I was an academic disaster and nearly flunked out. And socially, I was totally inept. So it was a brilliant career at Williams College. But then I got... Speaker 1 (3:31) I'd always thought that I wanted to be a doctor and it goes back and I didn't want to be a doctor, I wanted to be a surgeon. It goes back to when I was 10 years old, I saw a picture in a friend's house of he in the operating room in a mask and I thought I'd look really good in a mask. So, and it looked very dramatic and so that's what I always wanted to do. And so I, after a stellar career in college, I got into one of 13 medical schools I applied to. I wound up getting into the University of Virginia, and that was a godsend. So then I, the career from graduating from medical school, I bounced around. I spent a surgical internship in A first year residency in Rochester, New York, at Strong Memorial, and then went to Vietnam for a year, and then back in the military for another year, and then... Speaker 1 (4:35) I talked my way into Mass General. They told me they had a job opening, but they wouldn't give it to me. And so I called up the chief of surgery's office, and I said, I'd like to come. I have not met him. I'm applying for residency. I'd like to come see him. And I'd like to come see him on Thursday. I'm sorry, busy all day Thursday. How about Friday? Busy all day Friday. How about Monday? Busy all day Monday. How about I come and sit in his office until he's got 15 minutes for me? And they called me back and said, you'll see on Thursday. So they took me for a year. And then when I finished my residency and general surgery, they didn't want me to be the chief resident in cardiac surgery. Speaker 1 (5:29) So they took my then brother-in-law and promoted him ahead of year and got him out of the military and cast me off to Boston Children's Hospital. When I finished there, I was unemployed. All of a sudden, I got a letter from the Cleveland Clinic saying they would like to have me come for sort of a senior year. And if I was good enough, they'd keep me on. And so, to make a long story short, they kept me. Yeah. Wow, that's pretty amazing. What do you think flipped? Was there a