WASHINGTON (AP) _ Sen. Bill Frist sees an important quality in his work both as a doctor and as a politician: healing.

"I am committed to healing, whether it's doing my best in politics, in policy, or the 20 years I spent in medicine," Frist, a Tennessee Republican and the majority leader of the Senate, said on "Fox News Sunday."

Frist, a heart surgeon, is leaving the Senate at the end of his second term and then will consider whether to seek the Republican nomination for president.

"As you know, I'm a physician. I spent 20 years in medicine. And that is my life. It's healing one on one. And I spent 12 years in the United States Senate, hopefully, being able to participate to a healing process, a better quality of life, of looking at things like immigration and health care and education," he said.

"And so I'll make a decision when I leave," he said.