OncoDaily Walk and Talk with John Gore, Hosted by Tatev Margaryan
We continue to Walk & Talk with world-renowned oncologists, and today, our guest was Dr John Gore, Professor of the Department of Urology, University of Washington School of Medicine.
In our interview Dr Gore shared some warm and funny memories from his life, told us about his dream destination, how he still wishes to become a musician, and many other interesting facts.
Watch the full interview to learn all of them.
Hosted by Tatevik Margaryan.
Follow the transcript below
Tatev Margaryan: Everyone and welcome to Walk and Talk Daily. Today we’re here with Doctor John Gore.
John Gore: Yeah. Happy too. My name is John Gore. I’m a urologist from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA.
Tatev Margaryan: Okay. Thank you. We’re just going to take a walk and ask questions, if you don’t mind.
John Gore: Yeah. Okay. Perfect.
Tatev Margaryan: So the first question is, what’s a hobby or a pastime that you’re incredibly passionate about. And how did you get started with it.
John Gore: Yeah. Well, I guess I would say, probably hiking. so I grew up, going on a lot of camping trips and seeing a lot of the national parks in the US. And then now I live in Seattle, which is, close to the mountains. with lots of beautiful hiking trails and waterfalls. And so I love to go hiking.
Tatev Margaryan: Okay. That’s perfect. Can you describe a place you’ve visited that had a profound impact on you? And what was it about that place that left such an impression?
John Gore: Yeah. well, I’ve been really lucky to get to travel to a lot of places one place that I got to go to that was sort of a dream from when I was younger. And then I got to go, because of the kind invitation of a friend was Iguassu Falls, which is on the Argentina Brazil border.
And, the last day we were there you get to the very end and you get to this area that is just a massive torrent of waterfalls. And a stranger said to me, because we were both just in awe, you know, how can you not believe in God when you see something like this? And so that had a just a really profound sort of the power of power of nature, you know?
Tatev Margaryan: Wow. Okay. Who has been the most influential person in your life and what lessons have they taught you?
**JG**: I mean, I think like, like many of us, oftentimes the answer is a parent.
Tatev Margaryan: parents.
John Gore: Yes. Yeah. And so for me, probably, certainly my mom, she was a single mom. And then she went back to school. And so it’s sort of the importance of hard work, the power of education, always trying to do better for the next generation. And so for sure, my mom.
Tatev Margaryan: Oh, that’s so nice.
John Gore: Thank you.
Tatev Margaryan: What’s a book, a movie or a piece of art that has had a significant influence on your perspective of life?
John Gore: Oh, It’s interesting. So I was in Chicago for our annual urology meeting, and I grew up close to Chicago, and I grew up visiting with my mom, the Art Institute. And there’s a piece of art there that always sort of gave me peace and inspiration. And it’s called Sky Above Clouds for and it’s by Georgia O’Keeffe, and it’s a massive painting. It takes up. Yeah. And it takes up almost an entire wall. But, I’ve always loved that painting. That’s something I always go back to, too. So if I go to Chicago, I try to at least visit that painting.
Tatev Margaryan: piece of home maybe.
John Gore: A piece of home, a piece of comfort, I mean, a little bit of inspiration. So that’s always been a big part. I love it so much. We actually have it in my office. We have a little small print of it in my office.
Tatev Margaryan: Okay. I can tell that you like it very much.
John Gore: I like it very much.
Tatev Margaryan: Okay. Can you share a memorable travel adventure or a dream destination you would like to visit someday?
John Gore: Oh, I would, love to go to Africa. for a lot of different reasons. For natural beauty, for experiencing wildlife, experiencing local culture. so probably, and different parts of Africa too, you know, southern Africa, East Africa and, that would be a dream destination.
Tatev Margaryan: Is that like a doctor kind of thing? Because you’re the second person that we’re interviewing that you answered Africa to this question. Their dream is to visit Africa, I think. So we’re waiting for your stories from Africa.
John Gore: Yeah. I think part of it is it’s so far. So for us, it’s a gigantic trip to go. And so it’s something that you have to really want to dedicate a lot of time and effort to doing. And so it’s something you can’t you can’t just go to Africa for a long weekend, you know.
Tatev Margaryan: Yeah. Well obviously yes.
John Gore: It’s something that you have to plan for and dedicate a lot of time to.
Tatev Margaryan: So you’re the second person that we’re waiting to hear from Africa.
John Gore: Yeah.
Tatev Margaryan: What are some of your favorite ways to unwind or relax after a long week or day?
John Gore: So I have two small kids, and so that usually is the substance of my weekend So, you know, when kids are teenagers, you know, they sleep in on the weekend, they sleep till noon. Well, mine are young, so they wake up at 6 a.m., 5:45 a.m.. But I really love that because it gives me a lot of time to hang out, you know.
Tatev Margaryan: More time to spend together.Yeah, right. So that for me, is weekend time.
John Gore: Okay.
Tatev Margaryan: If you could have dinner with any historical figure, alive or dead, who would it be? And what would you ask them?
John Gore: Oh, boy, that’s a tough one. I don’t know, I guess that’s one I didn’t see when we looked before. I don’t know. You know, I do love history. and I love thinking about, you know, what led someone to do something, to write something or to sculpt something or to create something. So I love those stories.
So I might pick someone historically who was an artist to try to ask them about, you know, what inspired them to draw the X, y, z. Maybe I could unlock the mystery of the Mona Lisa from Leonardo da Vinci. Why is she so unhappy? Maybe that would be my question.
Tatev Margaryan: Is she?
John Gore: Is she or is she bored? Maybe. Maybe she’s bored. Yeah Anyway, that’s an interesting perspective, though.
Tatev Margaryan: Can you recall a life changing moment or decision that altered the course of your life?
John Gore: I mean, probably my decision to go to medical school. I, wasn’t, you know, like many young people, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. And so I had sort of a moment of clarity where I decided to go to medical school and, you know, that’s that’s, you know, doctors are different in a way where our career is very much part of our sort of life identity. And so it’s it’s a big part of my life identity. And so I think.
Tatev Margaryan: You live by that. Your profession. Right?
John Gore: Yeah. A little bit. It’s hard to kind of leave it behind Right
Tatev Margaryan: How do you define happiness and what activities or experiences bring you the most joy?
John Gore: Oh, that’s a great question. I do think happiness is someone that has to be something that has to be sort of internally driven, right? So I would define happiness based on sort of what I I bring to sort of my environment and the positivity that I bring. I feel like if your definition of happiness relies on external factors, that’s a recipe for unhappiness.
Tatev Margaryan: Also short lived, right?
John Gore: Short lived. Yes. And so, I think, you know, I try to orient myself toward positivity. in terms of things that bring me joy. I mean, again, you know, you’re kind of perspective changes when you have kids. And so that’s a big part of it. They also bring me a lot of pain. but Joy, I also I, I love, like, things in nature that are just sort of awe inspiring and are reminders of sort of how kind of vast time is. So things like canyons and waterfalls, things that just kind of remind you, you know, that that we’ve been here for such a short time relative to the length of time this planet has been here.
Tatev Margaryan: Yeah, we have for a very short time. So better make it worthwhile to make it worthwhile?
John Gore: Yes, 100%.
Tatev Margaryan: Okay. How do you know? Can you share a valuable life lesson you’ve learned from a personal challenge?
John Gore: One that I can think of is that in medicine, we tend to, we tend to beat ourselves up for mistakes, for patient outcomes that weren’t what we wanted them to be. You know, things that that went in a direction that, that we feel responsible for or part of. And that’s really hard. And so one lesson that I also try to pass on to our residents is that you you have to take time also to celebrate all the good things we do, because we do do a lot of good things.
Tatev Margaryan: And it’s overlooked, right?
John Gore: And it’s overlooked and it’s overlooked by ourselves. And so I think one lesson is to celebrate successes. You know, I think humility is very important. But I also think celebrating good things that happen in our lives is really important. And and in our job, you know, one of the really good things that happens is we do help a lot of people.
Tatev Margaryan: It’s absolutely I think it should be referred to every single person.
John Gore: Yeah.
Tatev Margaryan: It’s like not really specific to any sort of profession.
John Gore: Yeah. 100% celebrate successes.
Tatev Margaryan: Yes please. And thank you.
John Gore: Yeah.
Tatev Margaryan: what’s a skill or talent you’ve always wanted to develop but haven’t had the chance to pursue yet?
John Gore: Oh, that’s easy music. Oh, really? Yeah, music. So I was a dumb kid, and I was taking piano lessons. And you can see my fingers. I have, like, perfect, skinny, incredibly long like spider like. Yeah, piano playing fingers. And I gave it up to be bad at baseball. And so if I could, I would.
Tatev Margaryan:That’s an interesting way of going.
John Gore: And as my friends always say, you know, I still can. And so I just need to prioritize it. Well, yes, I would say music Okay.
Tatev Margaryan: I think you can still do that if you want to.
John Gore: 100% to 100%.
Tatev Margaryan: But if you want to.
John Gore: Yeah, and I do.
Tatev Margaryan: Can you describe a tradition or ritual that is meaningful to you or your family?
John Gore: So, I would say holidays and birthdays. you know, I think, holidays are such a unique time to gather as family and to focus on, like, the importance of family. And so, I would say some of the things that anchor, the different holidays that we celebrate. So, like, one of my favorite holidays in the US is called Thanksgiving.
And so it’s every November, and it’s all oriented around bringing family together, being thankful for various things that you have or that you had in that year, and eating a lot of food, which I know you can relate to.
Tatev Margaryan: Yes, absolutely. Okay, Can you share a funny or a quirky personal story that never fails to make you laugh?
John Gore: Ah, so, one of the things that, is a favorite hobby of my kids is asking us to tell funny or embarrassing stories about ourselves. So on a car ride that occupies a lot of time because they want to hear, like, embarrassing stories about us. Yes. So their favorite story is I was in Australia and I was eating lunch with my wife, and the ketchup packets in Australia are very different than the ketchup packets in the US.
So in the US you just rip off a corner and squeeze out the ketchup, and in Australia it’s this box and you have to squeeze it together. Oh, and I squeezed it the wrong way, so I thought I was squeezing it on my plate and I squeezed it on my pants right on my crotch.
Tatev Margaryan: Oh, yeah. That would make anyone laugh.
John Gore: Yes. Well, so no, this is the part that made everyone laugh. So then I went to the bathroom because it’s ketchup and I was wearing white pants. Oh. So I washed off the ketchup. And when I came back to the table my wife saw me and I had a gigantic wet spot stain. Yeah, all around my crotch. So it looked like I just wet my pants. And she was laughing so hard she was trying to take a picture. She was laughing so hard she couldn’t take a picture. So I like that story because, number one, I’m not afraid to embarrass myself. And I think that’s an important quality. I think we’re all too sensitive
Tatev Margaryan: Yeah.
John Gore: And so I think that, it reflects, my inability to be embarrassed.
Tatev Margaryan: Okay. That is funny, though. If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
John Gore: Oh, don’t worry about things so much. Yeah. I think, I think that when we’re younger, we restrain ourselves for fear of embarrassment or for fear of rejection. and, there’s a very famous athlete in the US named Deion Sanders, and he recently was giving a press conference, and he just basically said, I don’t care what you think about me, I, I know who I am, and I really like me, and I think that would be it is, I think when we’re younger, it’s very easy to be self-conscious and, and that makes us nervous. And so that’s what I would tell myself.
Tatev Margaryan: Okay. Perfect. I think we all need to tell that to ourselves.
John Gore: 100%. Yeah.
Tatev Margaryan: Thank you so much, Doctor Gordon. This is all for today. We had doctor Gore today for our interview. Stay tuned for future interviews. Thank you.
John Gore: Thank you.