This page is a tribute to the strategic insights of Dr. Bill Foege and his contemporaries, which provide a practical framework for the design of our curriculum and the selection of our candidates.
📜 CANON I 📜 Canon I of III Choose the Correct Candidate
The ideal Preemptologist demonstrates:
Consequential compassion: compassion that delivers measurable impact
Unwarranted optimism: resilience in the face of setback
Problem-solving drive: competitive but collaborative
Absolute integrity
“So, I stopped looking for ways to measure compassion and instead looked for ways to measure consequential compassion… Consequential compassion is hard work.”
📜 CANON II📜 Canon II of III Cover the Complete Curriculum
Preemptology unites clinical skill with executive and political capability. Core areas:
Clinical Core: Public Health, Preventive Screening, Primary Care
Clinical Support: Biomedical Engineering, Medical History, Emergencies
Non-Clinical: Political Science, Business, Law & Ethics, IT/AI
“If the curriculum is properly conceived the graduates will be of superior quality… superbly oriented to meet the high-priority health needs of their community.”
These insights explore why a candidate's innate character—their integrity, optimism, and consequential compassion—is the essential foundation for a Preemptologist.
Full Commentary
"My father taught me that compassion is not an emotion—it is a decision."
"I think you can teach compassion but I’m not sure medical school is the most efficient place... I have proposed four points... Number one: that they look for compassion in the applicants... Number three: that every graduate should come out with both an MD degree and a Master’s of Public Health degree, so, that they see numerators and denominators. And four, that every student has a chance for a practicum in another culture."
"I remember when I was looking for a cancer surgeon for myself. I was looking for great skill, an ego so, large that he or she couldn’t bear to lose... By chance, I found out afterwards what motivated this talented surgeon… it was compassion."
"So, I stopped looking for ways to measure compassion and instead looked for ways to measure consequential compassion. There has to be something that comes out of it, or it doesn't make any difference. The words of politicians... don't matter if nothing comes out of it."
"Bishop Tutu also said that people frequently think compassion and love are merely sentimental ideas. He says, 'No. If you really want to do that, it's hard work.' Consequential compassion is hard work."
“The quality I look for most is optimism: especially optimism in the face of reverses and apparent defeat. Optimism is true moral courage.”
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
"I think there are three things that are missed by the usual approach. Number one is absolute integrity... Number two: How sensitive is that person to other cultures?... Number three: How optimistic are they?"
"I was once looking for someone for a position in Africa... when I talked to the people he supervised, I found out why he always got everything done: You were so hard on them... I told him, 'If I send you to Africa, you are going to see many people as subordinate to you... That is not what CDC needs in Africa.'"
📜 CANON II: Cover the Complete Curriculum
These quotes detail why the curriculum must fuse clinical mastery with political, legal, and business acumen to forge a new generation of "physician-statesmen."
Full Commentary
"The elaboration of medical curricula specifically designed to meet the high-priority needs of the developing areas of the world is one of the major problems... Requiring a selective amalgamation of basic science, of curative medicine and of public health, all located in a framework of political and social capability, the end product must be something quite different from anything now existent."
📜 CANON III: Cultivate Cross-Cultural Competence
These quotes from Dr. Foege and others illustrate why true cross-cultural competence, built into the Institute's very structure, is the key to designing lasting global health solutions.
Full Commentary
"Another lesson I have learned over time is to respect culture as a powerful force; when you tangle with it, culture always wins. Thus, it’s essential to approach any culture and its customs with respect."
"So, the bottom line is... We should train public health workers in political science. We should encourage them to go into politics until we have as many public health people as lawyers in Congress. And do everything we can to make sure public health workers are the best ancestors possible."
"Sencer saw the public health world as a whole. He understood that a healthy United States required a healthy world and that involving domestic public health workers in the global smallpox eradication program directly benefited the health of Americans."
"This historical pattern of philosophies and beliefs ping-ponging back and forth between cultures is echoed in Aravind's contemporary influence. Eye surgeons in the U.S. now thank Aravind for the cost-effective lenses they receive, while Aravind, in turn, credits the efficiency models inspired by McDonald’s."
"The most compelling lesson for us to take from all of this is that we are actively preparing the world in which future generations will live... we have learned definitively this week that compassion and caring are not outdated—they are the most enduring and effective tools for change."
