This summer Dr. Oz spoke with journalists at the Summer Press Tour of the Television Critics Association. “I thought I'd give you a little bit of background about why I'm doing this,” he said. “I spend most of my life working in academic medicine. I was a full professor before I was 40 at Columbia University. I would do 450, 500 open heart operations a year. It was a lot of fun. So what is it that took me from there to this?”
He explained that he talked to his patients in graphic detail and told them things that they could have done differently to avoid some of the medical problems; he realized that he could affect many more people by doing it on television.
“I began to appreciate that the reason America wasn't getting the message is because we're not giving it to them. We hadn't expressed it in the way that motivated them to change. And as they began to appreciate that, I began to think about this because most people are really worried about aging.”
Aging in good health are what he is striving to educate the populace about with his show.
Dr. Oz Wants to Inform and Motivate Viewers
“That's what this show is going to be about -- getting you to live right now, not because you're fearful of disease, but because you want to feel better today. So I embarked on this path about five years ago with Ms. Winfrey and attending open Oprah University, I learned a lot of things, and there are three basic insights I gained.
“Number 1, people do not change because they know facts. We have, I think, the best educated populace ever in part because of you folks [in journalism] and your brethren on health issues. We've all got the laundry list on the refrigerator, but we're not acting on it because true action only happens when you take that knowledge from up here [in your brain] and you put it down in your heart, where you have this visceral awareness of why it matters. And then people begin to get motivated to change their lives. That's all emotional. That's what drives change.”
Getting people motivated to change their behaviors is what he wants to do with his show.
“Number 2,” he continued, “it's got to be transformational, and to do that, you actually have to give people the real anatomy, tell them what's really happening. Don't break it down and baby it. What does it actually feel like to have that problem? And you've got to give them news they can use because true communication doesn't happen when I tell you something. It happens when something resonates with you and you start talking about it at the water cooler the next day. That's where true communication happens.
“And, finally, it's got to be playful because if it's not fun, people don't want to visit you. Oprah is a fun person at every level, and by making it playful, we actually began to get places getting people motivated.”
Dr. Oz is a delightful man. He’s not only highly intelligent, but he genuinely wants to make the population healthier. He has seen the good and bad in medicine and knows how most people can avoid the bad.
This is a man that can help people learn about their bodies, their lives, and how to live a healthier lifestyle. That is the reason he wanted to do this show and what drives him to work hard to get his message across to the public.
The Dr. Oz Show premiers Monday, September 14, 2009. Check local listings for time and channel.
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