Not Responsible (Season 7, Episode 16)

Everyone figures doctors are the most responsible people they know.  They hold lives in their hands.  They're not flakes.  They don't lose track of important details or make stunningly bad judgment calls, 'cause that would be bad, right?

We are responsible with our patients.  Problem is, we blow it all out at work.  In our own lives, we can't think it through, we don't make a sound choice.  We did that all day at the hospital.  When it comes to ourselves, we've got nothing left.  And is it worth it? Being responsible?  'Cause if you take your vitamins, and pay your taxes, and never cut the line, the universe still gives you people to love, and then lets them slip through your fingers like water.  And then what have you got?  Vitamins, and nothing.

Golden Hour (Season 7, Episode 15)

How much can you actually accomplish in an hour?  Run an errand, maybe? Sit in traffic.  Get an oil change.  When you think about it, an hour isn't very long.  60 minutes.  3600 seconds.  That's it. 

In medicine, though, an hour is often everything.  We call it the golden hour - that magical window of time that can determine whether a patient lives, or dies. 

An hour - one hour - can change everything.  Forever.  An hour can save your life.  An hour can change your mind.  Sometimes an hour is just a gift we give ourselves.  For some, an hour can mean almost nothing.  For others, an hour makes all the difference in the world.  But in the end, it's still just an hour.  One of many, many more to come.  60 minutes.  3600 seconds.  That's it. And it starts all over again. And who knows what the next hour might hold?

P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) (Season 7, Episode 14)

One of the hardest lessons as a doctor is learning to prioritize.  We're trained to do all we can to save life and limb, but, if cutting off a limb means saving a life, we learn to do it.  Without hesitation.  It's not an easy lesson to learn, and it always comes down to one question, "What are the stakes?"  What do we stand to gain or lose?  At the end of the day, we're just gamblers, trying not to bet the farm.

Surgery is a high stakes game.  But, no matter how high the stakes, sooner or later you're just going to have to go with your gut.  And maybe, just maybe, that'll take you right where you were meant to be in the first place.

Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go) (Season 7, Episode 13)

Doctors practice deception all the time.  We give vague answers to hard questions.  We don't talk about post-op pain.  We say "you'll experience some discomfort."  If you didn't die, we tell you the surgery went well.  But the placebo has to be the doctor's greatest deception.  Half of our patients we tell the truth.  The other half - we pray the placebo effect's real, and we tell ourselves that they'll feel better anyhow, believing help's on the way, when in fact, we're leaving them to die.

Doctors practice deception every day.  On our patients.  On their families.  But the worst deception we practice is on ourselves.  Which is why sometimes it takes us a while to realize that the truth has been in front of us the whole time.