Excerpt from YOU Are the New Prescription

When I was 17, I watched my father survive triple bypass surgery. At the time, I didn’t fully grasp how that moment would reshape the course of both our lives.

It started with chest tightness after a work dinner. Nothing dramatic, just a little discomfort. But my father always practical went to the doctor the next day. The tests were sobering. His coronary arteries close to 100% blocked. It was clear that he needed urgent surgery. It was a quiet but life-altering shock.

Hours before the operation, I saw him cry for the first time. My father had always been composed and in control. That moment, seeing his fear and vulnerability, changed something in me. We all cried together. It was a kind of family reckoning. None of us had expected this. But he made it through.

The recovery was long but remarkable. Within six months after a long recovery he ran a 5K. He gave up soda and started walking with me in the mornings. He overhauled his diet and reconnected with his health in a way I had never seen before. That crisis pulled us closer together. Our whole family made changes. We started cooking more, moving more, and thinking differently about what it means to feel well.

That year shifted the way I viewed medicine and health. I began to understand that health is not just the absence of disease. It is the sum of small, consistent decisions we make every day. My father’s experience became my motivation to go into medicine. And over time, I came to see that his story was not unique. I saw this pattern again and again in patients and colleagues. The wake-up call. The shift in mindset. The chance to reset.

This book was born out of that realization. Many of the most educated, successful people I know struggle to apply their knowledge to their own health. Even those responsible for managing health systems sometimes neglect their own well-being. We give advice but we often ignore it ourselves.

The message here is simple: real leadership begins with how we treat our own bodies and minds. The way we eat, sleep, move, and manage stress sends a message to our patients, peers, and families. We are not invincible. But we are not powerless either.

Excerpted from YOU Are the New Prescription by Raja Ramaswamy, MD and Rani Ramaswamy, MD.