The Mayo Clinic: Faith, Hope, Science

Ken Burns · David Blistein

Nov 2021 · RB Media · Narrated by Graham Winton

About this audiobook

On September 30, 1889, W.W. Mayo and his sons Will and Charlie performed the very first operation at a brand-new Catholic hospital in Rochester, Minnesota. It was called Saint Marys.

The hospital arose out of the devastation of a tornado that had struck the town six years earlier. After the storm, Mother Alfred Moes of the Sisters of Saint Francis told the Mayos that she had a vision of building a hospital that would “become
world renowned for its medical arts.”

Based on the film by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, The Mayo Clinic: Faith, Hope, Science chronicles the history of this unique organization, from its roots as an unlikely partnership between a country doctor and a Franciscan
order of nuns to its position today as a worldwide model for patient care, research, and education.

Featuring more than 400 compelling archival and modern images in a supplemental PDF, as well as the complete script from the film, the book demonstrates how the institution’s remarkable 150-year history continues to
inspire the way medicine is practiced there today. In addition, a series of case studies reveals patients, doctors, and nurses in their most private moments as together they face difficult diagnoses and embark on uncertain treatments.
The film and this companion book tell the story of an organization that has managed to stay true to its primary value—the needs of the patient come first.

Together, they make an important contribution to the critical discussions about the delivery of health care today in America ... and the world.

About the author

Ken Burns, July 29, 1953 - Ken Burns was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 29, 1953. Burns attended the alternative campus of Hampshire College in Amherst Massachusetts, graduating with a degree in film making. After graduating from college, Burns began Florentine Films with a few of his friends, and began creating his first documentary, entitled "The Brooklyn Bridge." This film won an Academy Award in 1982. His most famous work is his "Civil War" series, which has won many various awards. Burns was the first film maker to be inducted into the Society of American Historians, an unprecedented honor.