Everyone was seated quietly in dark suits. Pictures of loved ones flashed on giant screens while speakers recalled their best characteristics and the good times they shared.

Wait, did you think we were talking about a memorial service?

Dr. Steve Eubanks’ SAGES presidential address, entitled “A World of Opportunities,” featured tons of wisdom, anecdotes about friends, and interesting facts. Did you know, for example, that Dr. Eubanks was just cute as a button when he was a baby?

Next Dr. James “Butch” Rosser took to the podium to give the annual Dr. Gerald Marks Lecture, this year entitled “A Surgeon’s Journey of Service in a World that is Flat.”

According to the SAGES brochure, Dr. Rosser is a “surgeon, educator, scientist, inventor, author, futurist, social advocate, television personality, actor, playwright, video gamer, comic book collector, lover of cinema, and self-proclaimed terminal twelve-year-old.”

Dr. Rosser spoke about his view that “your legacy is determined by the service you have given to others.” Speaking with fervent enthusiasm, Dr. Rosser described his Stealth Learning initiative, which uses modern technology to make boring subjects like science and history a little more interesting for young people. According to his research, this approach not only improves students’ attitudes towards science, it can even help them lose weight! Dr. Rosser, for example, motivated someone to lose 150 pounds using Dance Dance Revolution alone (that’s A LOT of macarena!). This concept has since been adapted around the nation by public schools.

It was an inspirational speech delivered with a rare vigor. When it was time to live, I had a good feeling about the positive impact that doctors — even surgeons — can have in their spare time.