Dr. Dean Norman is chief of staff of the VA Greater Los Angeles heathcare system. Before participating in a panel on how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are changing medicine, he talked in the Zócalo green room about why running a hospital’s a little like surfing—at least for the excitement junkie in him.
What’s your greatest irrational fear?
Fear of missing an episode of Game of Thrones or Walking Dead. Or that I won’t get enough surfing.
What’s your favorite surf spot in the world?
I like a place called Pipes, which is just south of Swami’s, which is in Encinitas.
What’s your favorite movie candy?
My wife doesn’t let me eat candy.
How do you deal with high-stress situations?
I follow the advice of one of my older attending physicians: He said if you want to live long and be relatively healthy, get a big dog. That’s what I did. I’ve had a big dog for like 10 years, I go walking every night, I have to take care of him, and I find it’s hard to maintain stress levels when you’re walking your dog.
What was your first job?
My first real job where I actually got paid was as an assistant in a solid-state physics lab writing programs, in a day where you had to punch your own cards. I’m showing what a dinosaur I am.
What’s your most prized material possession?
I’m a non-materialist; I don’t care much about material things. I’m probably most dependent on my iPad.
How do you like your coffee?
Black.
What’s the ugliest piece of furniture you own?
Let me think, without getting smacked by my wife! It’s her vintage sewing machines, which she never uses and are always around.
What superpower would you most like to have?
Does seeing into the future count?
What’s the best thing about running a hospital?
It’s very exciting. I’m an excitement junkie; that’s why I still do it. It’s very hard. If you read Peter Drucker, he pointed out that the hospital business is the most complicated business there is. Putting a man on the moon is nothing compared to running a hospital. Transportation, food, lodging—and that doesn’t even consider the healthcare. And we have to provide it all in an extremely safe environment. Any time you change something, there are unintended consequences that can result in people potentially being harmed. I try my best to make sure the changes or improvements we make do not have unintended consequences.