I disagree whole-heartedly with a reviewer who claimed this is basically a commercial for The Mayo Clinic. If you've ever lost someone to cancer and lost your hope for the mere possibility that treatment can EVER have positive outcomes, you need to see this film. Though familiar with the Mayo Clinic, I was never aware of the altruistic nature of the Mayo brothers, the Sisters of Saint Mary's Hospital and the early days of medical treatment and the nursing field. The FACTS of this documentary could have been presented to me..... and completely lost on me, but the storytelling of Ken Burns brings them to light in a way that is so engaging and compelling. I never knew the role that race played in healthcare.... or that The Mayo Clinic pioneered the miles of conveyor belts that allowed easy access to medical records..... or the reason why early hospitals were so architecturally refined and beautifully built specimens of structure.
My cynicism was released with the knowledge that every physician has a "personal cemetery in the back of their minds" .......and the new mother with Melanoma of the eye, who faced the possibility of voluntary termination of her pregnancy to slow the progression of her cancer but was spared that decision with a revolutionary treatment that spared her baby AND her eye.
I appreciated Tom Brokaw's perspective on how clueless Washington is in regulating healthcare--- but the hope for change is spelled out in the opening quote "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." The path to enlightenment seldom happens with the facts being simply delivered..... but with STORYTELLING, like this we can change the world! BRAVO KEN BURNS and everyone who contributed!!
