talk about his book "dr. q." after that, prime minister's questions with david cameron on the latest british unemployment numbers. and later, republican presidential candidates and texas governor rick perry announces his energy policy in jobs plan. ♪ >> this week on q&a. johns hopkins university brain surgeon talks about his new book, "becoming doctor q." doctor alfredo, you write in your book that you are and illegal, homeless combat immigrant farmer. -- homeless immigrant farm

worker. now you are a brain surgeon. how long ago were you a farmer. >> it is a comprehensive description. i came to the elected state in 1987. i talked about that in my recent book. i came into this country. i spent $64. i found my way up to north and california where i began to work with the same hands that now get to touch the human brain but one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. >> can you remember the first time you saw the brain?

what i was just a kid. i started medical school when i was 26 years o sometimes people ask me, did you know you're going to be a surgeon? i said, no. how did i end up on this journey? sometimes things happen for a reason. it is not just that. it comes for those who look for it. one day, i will walk in the hallways of harvard medical school. a distinguished brain surgeon or looked at me at the rubble o'clock p.m. and he asked me, where are you going? i said, i am going to the library. he said, would you like to see brain surgery?

i said yes. . . operated on a brain? >> by now going through residency, 300 cases a year and now at john hopkins i do between

250 to 300 brain operations a year. and i have been around six years. and i have seen the human brain thousands of times and i still have the same feeling. every time i peel back the dura and open it, and i see the human brain pulsating. and it makes me wonder, every patient, whether brown or hispanic, and when you peel back the dura, we are the same. >> what is the toughest part of being a brain surgeon? >> i think it's the challenges we face and the uncertainties we face in the operating room. sometimes no matter what you do, you can do the most perfect brain surgery, you can remove a

whole tumor, and at the end the day, we still cannot defeat the natural history of brain cancer, for instance. and i have so many patients to need help and no matter how much power, that's the most frustrating part i do. i still have to go to the patient's families and look at them face-to-face. and i say, i am very happy with the surgery we have done, yet i know this is only the first of many battles you are going to fight with your loved ones. and that feeling of knowing how much of an expert i am disease, i can't win the war. i win the battle but at the end

of the war will be fought by the patients. >> is the cancer of kennedy? >> ggm. >> you use those letters a lot of times in the book. when you see that, what are the chances of percents today? >> thank you, every time i walk into the operating room and know i am in front of this massive killer. because it kills thousands a year. i am talking about this cancer that affects the brain. and i go in and i know i am the underdog fighting that fight for my patients. my patients trust me with their lives. and i go in with all the passion

and knowledge and energy that i have gathered from the patient and their families. and my role is to take as much safely, and to take as much as i can. the odds are against me making an incredible difference on that patient's life at the end of the day. because the bottom line is the disease is devastating but i never lose hope. every patient i treat, every surgery i do specifically in that type of cancer. i always hope this is going to be the patient that defeats the sdee disease. and from that patient we will learn and create history for more to come. and i have that feeling if my heart every time i enter the operating room. otherwise i couldn't do whether

a do everyday. hope is the last thing is the hope i ever lose. and i hope my patients never lose it either. >> you write a lot in your book of being an illegal. >> yes. >> now did you come to the country illegally and how did you become legal? >> it's interesting, you know this country was built upon people that have come and immigrated to this country. some legally and some illegal. and in my case i came in with no documentation and no ability for a job. when i first came in the united states in the late 80s, and i crossed the border from mexico and the united states, and i same into the san joaquin valley and no chance to get a job. for pulling the weeds with the

same hands that now do brain surgery i was pulling the weeds and you know others and not many people were lining up. and after ronald reagan had immigration reform, specifically for people that were in the united states for a certain amount of years. and there was a special legislation for people that worked as migrant workers. and that legislation allowed that and to pay taxes, and with that work authorization you couldn't go back anywhere but allowed you to pay taxes and

apply for a green card. and that's what i did. the country was welcomed by people like me that worked in the fields. and it was a different time. and i felt i was given the opportunity to live the american dream. it's interesting, times have changed. our borders have gotten more strict. what i did back then wouldn't happen. and i talk about this in the book. nonetheless the american dream has not changes, it's still the same foundation of hard work, people coming into the united states with an idea they can work as hard as they can. and still be able to put food on the table of their children. and to be able to give the children an education. and that was my dream back then. that simple, all i wanted to work hard enough and have food

on the table of myself, my future children and parents. and that's the journey i took from all the way back then to where i am today. >> you quote your assistant or nurse in the book is saying from a patient, is it true that the doctor is a dirty mexican? isn't there another surgeon i can see. how often has that happened? >> it happened very often when i first came in john hopkins' in 2005. and i have rise in the academic ranks all the way to full professor. but when i first came and people did not know my background, they could see my skin color was different. and they could detect a certain amount of accent in some ways.

and some may have known my history of harvard and san francisco training. but they couldn't get over the fact that i was from a different country and from humble backgrounds. and it happened a lot. and i told my team that a lot of my patients that came to see me, were not only suffering from psychological diseases, which is brain cancer. but social disease, which is discrkricrim -- discrimination. and my my accent and i told my team, don't worry, they will come around. and every single patient always

came around. and after surgery once they decided to trust me with their live and afterwards they told me how sorry for their comments. an attribute that that the disease, and you say things that you can't explain. i turned that negative energy into positive energy. how do i do that? by research and continuing to make everyone of my patients a part of history. you will be surprised how many brain surgeons have given up, fighting against brain cancer, or they have decided that they want to go in and do their surgery everyday. and not necessarily fight the disease in the laboratory, which is something i could have done. >> what is the point of

operating on the brain and having the patient awake? >> worry question, brian. as i eluded to in the discussion, and there are several people that have come into the operating room that want to see how i do this surgery. i am not the only one in the united states but several that do a beautiful job. but the lesson is simple, a lot of us have dominance for speech on the left side. right about right here, we have the ability to produce the speech, called brocus area and we understand and produce language. imagine if you have a tumor in this vicinity. many times you can tell the

border between the tumor and the normal brain. the only way you can do this is mapping the brain. and knowing where normal function lies. and then you take your section all the way to that border. and leaving that border intact. so you have the ability to take as much tumor as you can, and leave behind the part of the brain that is necessary for language. >> how does the patient though not feel pain? >> well, some of my patients have written about. this i have a wonderful patient i talk to in the book actually is a sports writer. and he talks about how difficult and challenging and to be there awake and knowing someone else is up in your brain and keeping you awake. the truth is that the pain sensors is not in the brain

surface. you can elicit memories and pain memory but the pain is on the scalp and the bone and the pain is on the part that covers the bra brarn -- brain, it's called the dura matter. many patients tell me it was more painful to have dental work than the brain surgery. the difference is psychological pressure. i tell you it's amazing. just about three weeks ago ayoung man who is 15 years old and going to be featured in the john hopkin' newspaper. and he was a true hero and he was the strongest of any patient. and he remained calm, and i keep them awake and they are looking

at pictures and reading words. they are working with me and as a team to try to eradicate this disease. >> how long can a patient stay awake and with the brain like that? >> it all depends, sometimes an hour depending to three hours. depending on the size of the tumor, and sometimes i put them asleep with a little anesthesia. a good team. >> when you do a brain surgery, how many people are involved? >> oh, my goodness, imagine that. yesterday morning i did a case that lasted about 12 hours. and i was the captain of this team, i and had two ent surgeons

and i had two plastic surgeons and i was leading a team of neurosurgeons. surgeons alone, we have eight involved in this team. and this was a patient that came from far away with a complex tumor that we had to remove on the base of the skull. and we have three anesthesiologies and four nurses in the morning and afternoon, altogether i had a team of about 20 people. and some are very complex cases. >fomeone had to pay out of pocket, do you have any idea how to describe the cost? >> every once in a while that happens, and we have an incredible institution and at hopkins we have people that come from all over the world.

and most of the time some patients come from around the world, and if they have to pay cash, it ranges from 60,000 to several hundred thousand dollars. and depends on how long in the hospital. sometimes people come to the united states and choose to have the surgery. and not because i leave the team, but because i am surrounded by an incredible amount of smart, dedicated physicians and nurses. and those are the ranges more or less. >> what is the most difficult -- and you probably hate this question. what is a very difficult operation, i read about the face being pulled down. but what is most difficult situation you find yourself in? >> i would say the most

difficult situation that i find myself are those situations you are in the operating room. no matter what the case. it could be a very complex brain tumor or a simple. but the difficulty is when suddenly something unexpected happens. a few months ago i was operating on a man with a large tumor, a soccer player, very fit. when i opened tumor and small but many bleeders, and you opened the gate and blood was pouring. and the greatest challenge, you know there is a fine line between life and death. luckily i remained calm and we were able to control the situation. and that patient went only in two days.

imagine the pleasure i had. and i went home and still shocked. and imagine that adrenalin, and you are like the special forces and you have to lead the team. and you have to keep everyone calm and cool and collected and you know what is going on. all the people and anesthesia and the nurses and you are aware of everything. it's almost as if time slows down and everything is moving around and it's quiet but you are aware of everything and trying to save this life. i went home that night. and i sit and my son, david, having dinner. and this is around 9 p.m. and he dad, how did your day go? >> i said it was a tough day, and i had this patient with a tumor and my kids know about tumors. and i told him about what happened to the blood. and he asked a question, and he

said, how much blood could you afford to lose before a patient die and it hit me, not much. we were this close to potentially losing him. and those cases are very, very emotionally and physically taxing to me. >> did you have to go back and finish an operation? >> yes, and in the same day, i had to go back and do it again. and those are the challenges we face. we never talk about the emotional weight that this kind of situations carry on you. and the amount of arrogance, and i talk about this in the book. i am the first one to admit everyday i have to get up in the morning that i can do this. there is no one better to do this than i am. i have to believe when i go to the operating room arena, i have someone's lives in my hand and i

am capable of getting out of there and that's the trust the patient have on me. and i walk the line of confidence and arrogance. >> i let's get back to a metaphor in the book about a tanker and how long at john hopkins? >> six years at hopkins. and four years at harvard. >> and you are only 43. >> [laughter] >> go back then beyond harvard, where were you in school before that? >> before harvard, i was at california, uc berkeley and in 1988, i was in stockton college and before they was working in

the fields. >> how long in the fields? >> i was working in the fields for a year-and-a-half. and i was starting english in the community college, i was working at the railroad. >> let's go back to when you jumped the fence. when did you fall in the tanker and why? >> this was when i was in community college, and i fell, and we have to set up the story. it's a metaphor in many ways what it's like to fight for your own life. and what it's like to give up control. right after i work in the fields, i am working in a railroad company. and i was doing the most menial job you can imagine. i was first cleaning tanks that carry fish oil. and in the bottom would be this fish lard that would accumulate

and i had to clean that. and i advanced to tanks that carried liquid gas. and that's the scene, i am in beautiful california summer day, and i was with a friend in the book, pablo, and i was in charge of fixing the security valve so the tanks would not explode. so i am in the top of this 35,000 gallon tanker, i have a hole this big and a big vault falls into the tank. and i told my co-worker, i will go down and get it. and talk about arrogance. and my friend said, are you crazy. and i said no, it will take me a minute. and this is when i thought i was

in physical shape and i went down and as you can imagine, i didn't make it up. but i tried. i landed at the bottom of the tank, and i realize there is no oxygen. and with all of my equipment, big toe boots and overalls and tools. and i drop everything and i drive this rope, about 18 feet from the bottom, and i go up on this rope. and as i do this, my whole life flashed. like when people talk about near-death experience. and i think, oh, my gosh, i came to this country to provide for my life and for my siblings and patien parents. and i fight and climb that rope with a little or no oxygen in my

lungs. and i make it to the top, and i grab pablo's hands. and pablo relates to the story to in my face was the agony, and the strength, i could almost crush his hand, we were safe and we were asking for help. around that time my father comes, he was working in the railroad and he comes up and lands at the moment of pablo and i lost consciousness. and pablo relays the story, right before this i smiled and fell to the bottom of the tank. >> you fell all the way down. >> all the way, and totally unconscious. and the incredible journey and work of the team. and lead by a person they mentioned in the book, that died. when i was in brain team

surgery, and my own brother-in-law went in not once but twice to save my life. and it's an incredible story, and i could have died, and the way they got me out with a rope. and we had no resources, and they got me out. and the next time i wake up i was in a small hospital in stockton, california. and i am vomiting, and strapped. and on one of those yellow stretchers. and my neck is protected. and now i know, i know what a traumatic brain injury and how you protect it. and the doctor was trying to get me to relax, i was vomiting, and sick to my stomach. and my father relays the story and hours go by. because i was down there for minutes with no oxygen. and they thought i had a stroke,

i couldn't feel my hands having side effects from the liquid gas. and a few hours later i woke up. and my father came in and my brother was crying, and i talk about this story. and a few hours went by. and i asked my father, and i noticed there were some young nurses taking care of me. and i my father knew i would be okay, when i asked my dad, dad, how does my hair look. [laughter] so we knew, and as you can imagine, the whole idea the moment i grabbed my co-worker, pablo. i knew i had given it all i had. and at this point it was symbolic of me tracking that things would work out for me. >> when did you decide to tell this story? >> i tell you brian, i decided to tell this story around 2008.

abc did a beautiful story of hopkins and i hoped and closed the story and i had multiple interviews. and i was finishing hopkins and a lot of writers said they wanted to write my story. and i wasn't ready. mentally and physically, i was not ready yet. i needed to climb the ladder of academic, from assistant professor to full professor. and i was nominated earlier. and right around that time, i realized there was an incredible story to be told. not just my story, but my interaction with so many people have that mentored me and my

patients. and i realized this was the american dream. and we were losing focus on what the american dream is all about. i think that the american dream comes back to the same principle of hard work. and i wanted to tell this story of this kid who came to the united states with nothing, and opportunities given. and me taking those opportunities. i was able to show the world that you can still fulfill the american dream. and america is still the most beautiful country in the world. and that's why i told that story. >> and not worried that your colleagues will think you are show boating? >> well no, i worry about this. and you always do, and it happens many times. and that's why i wanted to move up the ladder. believe me they wouldn't give me promotions at hopkins based on this book.

it has to be peer review papers and scientific papers. and we had a nature magazine and grants from the government. and peer-review grants. and i one of the few brain surgeons with grants to study brain cancer. and that's how you get promoted and that's what i said, i will do this first before i release this story. >> i am not sure but i think that john hopkins have a 1.6 billion grant in the year, and they are number one hospital for how many years? >> over 20 years. >> what do they do with all that of money? >> you have to come in and see, i and welcome people. and it's all going back to research. that's what makes this place such a special place. we are striving to make history

with our patients, not alone but as a team. we use all of those resources to find new cures. we find all of those resources specifically for me. the lab money i get and the money we donate. through philanthrophy, we give it back to find a cure. and in years we will say that we will defeat your disease. that is affecting not only you but future generations. and you will see building and my laboratory alone is about 20 people. and you can imagine i pay the salaries and the experiments, and all of that money is constantly put back into the economy to find cures to the disease. >> going back to the basics of brain surgery, and what is the average or regular story that

you hear of a patient that leads to brain surgery? >> beautiful, beautiful question. i tell you. this is what i hear from my patients. and one of the reasons why my practice has been so successful, first of all. when my patients come to see me, they get all-access to everything in my team, and including my personal cell phone number. but what i hear, the moment they get their diagnosis, and like the whole world collapsed. and one patient beautifully described it to me, imagine you are driving in california. highway 5. between fresno and bakersfield. it's a beautiful drive, and it's a straight drive and nice and quiet. and you have the ac and music and something comes from the

side and hits your car. and your world collapses and you turn over and over and you have no idea where that came from. that's how my patients describe their new diagnosis of brain tumor. and when they are first given that diagnosis, they don't know if it's cancerous or noncancerous. there are many tumors that are not cancerous. all they know is a diagnosis of brain tumor and that is a life-changed experience. >> you say in your book that there are patients living with primary brain and neuro-tumors and there are 120 cancers and 124,000 that have malignant brain tumors. >> and we are getting better at treating other cancers in our

body, renal cancer and breast cancer. and some of these tumors make their way into the brain. and the brain i like to think is a sanctuary, it's a privileged organ. and drugs don't get so well up into the brain. so we can cure cancers here but many times they get into the brain. and that's a devastating problem. and that's why we have so many patients with tumors in the brain. cancerous tumors. and not all are born in the brain, like senator kennedy's tumor was born. but many make their way up north. >> what is the way that they know they have a problem? >> many times a patient has convulsion and they have a

seizure. and never have been sick and then all of a sudden they have convulsion and bad headaches. i am not talking about a small headache for tylenol and not migraines. but they is a seizure and drop on the floor, and like a fish out of water. and they end up in the hospital and with a scanner and big lesion on the brain. and that's how many end up. >> let's say today someone watching this has a convulsion and they want to get to you. what are the chances they can get to you? >> they are very high, everyone in the world. i have a web page dedicated to

me. and people find my e-mail and contact and information in my book. and someone can send me an e-mail from everywhere in the world. and i will make sure that myself or a colleague at hopkins will take care of them. and that's my dedication, and i could give up what i do today and make a lot of moimon moan -. i not poor, but i wanted to help people, i wanted to continue to live the american dream. i am thankful for what this country has down f-- done for m. >> where are your parents? >> they are in california.

my parents are beginning to realized what i do. and before the the book, my parents had requests for interviews. especially spanish television that is fascinated by the story. and my mom and dad had just years of elementary school. and they are beginning to realize my life. and they couldn't understand why after graduating from harvard medical school and working 120 hours a week and away from home. but they have a wonderful life and they are not just proud of me but the rest of my siblings that are working very hard to fulfill the american dream. >> you dedicated the book to deceased sister.

and where is everyone? >> there is only five left and in california and vegas area. >> where did you meet your wife? >> i talk about that wonderful story. my wife's first name is anna, and last name is peterson, he's smart and witty and beautiful. and when i was in community college learning english. right about the time i fell into the liquefied petroleum tank. i was in life and had so much energy. i cannot relate to you, i would go for days without sleeping and working all the time. and i still had to do track and field. and one day i had an injury, and i went into the swimming pool. and the coach sent me with a groin injury, and when i come out of the swimming pool. a young woman said hi, to me.

and i thought to someone else, and it was to me. and i bolted the other way, i was so shy. and i had seen this woman before, and two weeks prior i was having lunch at the community college and washing the fish and these two women sat next to me and talked to me. and my english was so terrible and i ran out of there. and we started dating at uc berkeley, and she had seen the growth. she saw me when i had nothing, and i was going to community college and my steel toed boots and she's been my life partner. >> and gabby and david? how old? >> gabby is 14 and david is 10,

and i know this picture is a few years back. and this is at the time of hopkins and i give full credit to anna to raising them. >> how did you come close to getting aids? >> this was interesting in the second period of my life at uc berkeley in san francisco and i was training to be a surgeon. and it was a humbling experience, and trying to help a patient. who had a big collection of fluid. and this patient was dying of aids. and another physician and our attempts to help this patient. we have a big needle and trying to get the fluid out, he was in pain from the knee. and it was an orthopedic surgeon

and i. and back then i was doing rotation. and she's got a big needle and fluid and suddenly loses control with this needle. and get blood and fluids and everything. and you can imagine the same story of the patients getting diagno diagnosis, and we knew a case. and the san francisco general hospital that had the first ward for aids patient in the whole united states. and at that hospital someone had converted from negative to positive h.i.v. and it was because of a needle, and i had to go through therapy and dropped weight and vomited everyday. and in some ways our patients relate to taking chemotherapy.

and that's how i had this incredible amount of respect for what they do. at a certain point, i only did it for a month. but imagine patients who do it for years at a time. and luckily everything went well. and that's why a gap between david and olivia. we had to protect ourselves and every time i had to get a test. it was a nerve-racking and you can sense the intense moments my wife and i went through. >> didn't you have a time when you had blood squirting. >> yeah, that was john hopkins, and i was taking care of a woman and had a traumatic brain

injury. and i was trying to do this and had protection and had magni magnifyimagnif magnifying glasses. and i had the a small artery that sent blood perfectly located right above my eye, and past the protection and right into the eye. and this was a woman that had received a lot of blood transfusio transfusions. and the first thing that came out, and i went out to tell the mom that everything was fine. and he heard and she wanted to make sure i was fine. that to me was so touching to know. i had her daughter's life in my hands and she was concerned for me. and it was fine but we were in good shape. >> what is the worse thing that a family or a patient does to a doctor? >> you know, i think -- it's a

difficult question, obviously. i have had experiences where i think it's a relationship that you build with your patients. it's expectations, sometimes patients come in with expectations that you are going to save their loved ones you know from brain cancer, for instance. and i have had a few patients like this. and i think that the worse thing that a family can do to a physician sometimes that i have personally, i cannot speak for all physicians. but for me one of the most devastating experience, i am always the last to give up hope. but we reach a point that we do things sometimes to patients instead of helping them, we work against them. once we reach that end of life and we know that nothing is

working. and the disease continues to progress. the worse thing i have experienced from the family members and the patient, their inability to realize no matter what we do, things are not going to change. and they are willing to see their loved ones continue to suffer. rather than deal with their own inabilities to cope with the fact that their loved ones are going to die. and that breaks my heart. and i struggle and meet with them, and please, this is not going to change. we need to help make that transition, put in hospice care. >> when have you seen a case where you don't want to do what that doctor has done? >> we are privilege said to have

the best physicians in the world. and it hasn't happened to me as much in medical school. and colleagues in my discipline and other disciplines doing things that i consider to not be good for either, for the welfare of a patient. making decisions to continue treatment. making decisions to stop treatment. giving the family false expectations, that obviously is something that i feel strongly against it. and i told myself i will never do that. my goal in life is to always be honest to patients. when i come out of operating room, i say this is what we will do and you know everything in my brain now. >> you said in the book, one thing you have changed is that the patient no longer needs to

have a relationship with their primary care doctor. you go around that rather than waste that time, explain that. >> one thing i have realized and that has made my relationship with my patients very strong. is sometimes we do have surgeons and a speciality and we go in and think about taking the tumor out. and we tend to think that's it, and in reality what i have done in my group and team, is to take that tissue, and work in the laboratory and find a cure. and then i turn around and i get the patients involved in not only their own care but also in part of history. i can send them and they donate that tissue and that feel a part of history. in my relationship with those

patients continues to evolve beyond just taking care of their tumor. you know. so i don't necessarily take away the role of the primary care physician, but i try to make it easier because sometimes they feel frustrated. because there a don't have the knowledge to deal with the brain patients. i do. and working with the families and i try to take the role of the primary care physician into a subspeciality. but i surround myself with a lot of people. >> so when in your life did people start questioning whether or not you got in all of these places because of affirmative

action. and i assume that has happened. >> of course, brian, it will never end. i assume that people will see this interview and wonder, why is it i am not there. and my son is not there, and he took a spot. and that's why i can publish my story. i need to be ready for this. when the show hopkins came out, i got death threats and people who love me and hate me. and they think i have taken someone else's spot in medical school. and someone else born and raised in the united states should be the brain surgeon. that will never end. i welcome and think that's what makes it country the most beautiful country. that people can express their

opinions. i don't agree with them but i respect their opinions. as long as it doesn't affect my life or of my patients or family. what is the idea and what you do for people. >> how often is race an issue in your life? >> i would say everyday. every day i get a request for an interview and a possibility of doing something. people will say, we want this guy who is famous and i say this is my agenda. there are things i can do. but that plays a role everyday in my life. to be honest. i don't shy away from it, i welcome it. i realize from medical school what i thought was a weakness, that i was a poor immigrant, and that turned out to be the

greatest strength of my life. the true definition of the american dream. >> take us through a day from the beginning to the end. >> let's take today. i get up at 5 a.m. >> you do this everyday? >> 5 a.m. everyday, my alarm goes off at 4:50 and i take a moment to gather my life, and i run in honor for people with brain cancer. and i won't lie, i am not in perfect shape but i will give it my best. and it will be the boston marathon. and i went into the office and then to washington, d.c. with you. and i will go home and have dinner with my kids about 30 minutes and tell them a story and put them to bed. and go back to the office and at

10:30 spend time with my wife and go to bed at midnight. and i on oncall throughout the night and i receive calls. i am always on call for my patients, any patient that wants me. and the truth is that they know better, but i do that every single day. seven days a week, and 365 a year, and all from what i remember. that's my level of energy. >> how much fatigue do you have? >> well, i am had -- human, and i get up and i am sore and tired. and i think of my patients who are struggling and when i do that, i get up and the world starts. i love to watch the sun coming up every morning. and i love rainy days like this

as well, it's a part of life, a cycle of life. >> so 10 years from now based on what you have watched happening in medicine. what do you think will be different about the art of brain surge surgery. >> i will say that 10 years from now we will see more personalized medicine. now for a brain tumor, we take as much as we can and give the patient chemotherapy and radiation. and what i hope in 10 years from what we are doing, we will take this tumor, and say this patient specifically responds to this treatment. and we will turn around and give personalized medicine to that patient. and that's what i think will revolutionize our system. and we can't allow our country not that. and that's why i feel so strongly that we need to support

research. and we need to support those creative minds that will able to help us to live a long, healthy life. >> looking back over all of your education, harvard, university of california, berkeley, what was the toughest time in medical training? >> i would say that was being a resident. and at time i was stabbed with the needle. >> san francisco. >> no question, and there were issues that we talked about racism and the challenge of working as a resident to train and to be special forces. little sleep and a lot of work and little money. and being in the hospital all the time, not seeing my children. that was the most challenging times i had to survive. and having the problem with the h.i.v., and having to deal with

the fact that san francisco is a beautiful city. but it was painful to live there because of how expensive it was. this was around the time that we were at the peak of the dot-com-companies in san francisco. and that was a different time. and i talk about that in the book. and the incredible memories but the memory that is pain me the most. are the times that my kids were in my face and they were trying to play with me, but i was completely spent. >> you have a co-author, how did you relate to her? did she interview you? >> yeah, she was incredible and

she wrote many books and has done incredible amount of work. and the moment that i met her, the moment that we talked. obviously the publishers gather resources to do that. because she's an incredibly accomplished writer. she came in and spent time with me. personally and ran around with me in the hospital with mys. a and -- with my patients and we spent about three years. >> the name of the book is "becoming dr. q," alfredo quinones-hinojosa and this is published by the california press. thank you for joining us. >> thank you, my pleasure.

>> for a dvd copy of this program, call 1-877-662-7726. for free transcripts visit us at q-and-a.org. and available at c-span/podcast. >> next, british prime minister, david cameron at the house of commons, and then speeches by rick peery and jon huntsman. and then another "q & a" with dr. alfredo