Surgeons’ Lives - Stuff that Matters

Herb Chen and being organized

Herb Chen is a pretty accomplished guy when you think about it! Having said that, I have accused him of being worryingly organized!
 
Dr. Chen is Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), the Surgeon-in-Chief of UAB Hospital and Health System, and the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. He is a Professor of Surgery, Pediatrics, and Biomedical Engineering, and holds the Fay Fletcher Kerner Endowed Chair.
He is the American Cancer Society MEN2 Thyroid Cancer Professor.
Dr. Chen is the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Surgery.
Born in Staten Island he grew up in a small Wisconsin town, the son of an Orthopedic surgeon. His training CV is exemplary - Stanford, Duke, Hopkins - I mean C'mon Man!
He spent 15 years in Madison, Wisconsin where he laid the bedrock of an outstanding career before becoming the Chair in Alabama a decade ago. He is a man of his time - an his time involves surgical science, work-life balance, diversity and inclusion.
And he has a secret ambition that perhaps panders to his penchant for excessive organization!!
You can also watch this on YouTube - I want these interviews to form a small part of surgical history. 
 
https://www.uab.edu/medicine/surgery/breast-endocrine/faculty/herbchen
https://www.carcinoid.org/doctor/herbert-chen-md-surgical-oncology-general-surgery/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbert-chen-57895752/
X- @herbchen
https://societyofclinicalsurgery.com/senior-members/chen/
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UvXGbfIAAAAJ&hl=en

The Ronan O'Connell Interview

Professor Ronan O'Connell was born and raised in Dublin and still lives there today with his wife Pauline.
He became a colorectal surgeon almost by chance during a research fellowship and then rose to the very top in everything he touched - Chair of Surgery, President of RCSI and ESA, Editor of the world's most successful surgery textbook.
In this interview he describes a life journey from an intellectual start discussing linguistics with his parents at home, through medical school before reaching the very top of the profession.
And then he became President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland when Covid struck!! Challenges aplenty for sure!
You can also watch this episode on @YouTube of course
https://people.ucd.ie/ronan.oconnell
https://www.rcsi.com/dublin/library/collections/heritage-collections/presidents-of-rcsi/p-ronan-oconnell
https://www.escp.eu.com/news/education/2601-the-importance-of-mentorship-and-coaching

Justin Dimick - Quality, Culture and some knitting along the way!

Justin Dimick is of course one of the nest known and highly successful surgical academics in the US. First and foremost he is a passionate surgeon with a mission to improve the outcomes for his patients as well as patients worldwide through "understanding the data".
A Health Services Researcher par excellence he has co-authored some of the seminal papers in the "Quality" field with some giants in the field along the way.
He has most definite views about setting the cultural agenda and being intentional about values and what he stands for.
And all of this from modest beginnings knitting mittens for fellow medical school!
Go Blue and listen to another great story on #SurgeonsLives #StuffThatMatters
Don't forget - also available on @YouTube @jrtmonson
https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/573/justin-brigham-dimick-md
https://twitter.com/jdimick1?lang=en  @jdimick1 
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=H9tloLUAAAAJ&hl=en
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_B._Dimick

Liane Feldman talks - An Accidental but Powerful Leader

Liane Feldman is the Chair of Surgery at McGill in Montreal and not that long ago was President of Sages.
She is Canadian through and through and has spent almost all of her career in her home city.
Naturally she is a "Habs" hockey fan and avid outdoors enthusiast - running, cycling and skiing or simply being at her lakeside cottage. A recent empty nester she is very proud of her three kids culinary skills apart from anything else.
In this interview she tells us how titles and leadership were never intentional plans and only undertaken with the most careful of deliberation. But she found she liked being the steady hand on the tiller for others - and they obviously agree.
Apologies for the techno glitch at the start - I managed to delete the story of her student days and residency!!! Nonetheless, I think you will greatly enjoy her story
Don't forget the YouTube version for watching leisurely!!
https://www.mcgill.ca/generalsurgery/liane-s-feldman
https://twitter.com/lianefeldman?lang=en  @lianefeldman
https://www.linkedin.com/in/liane-s-feldman-2884428a/?originalSubdomain=ca
https://www.sages.org/a-message-from-sages-president-liane-feldman-md/
 

Tracy Hull - Buckeye football, horses and colorectal surgery!

Tracy Hull has been part of the furniture at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio for 3 decades. A self-confessed "plodder" she has nonetheless reached the top of the mountain as a colorectal surgeon and fierce patient advocate.
Born into the family veterinarian business she was closing surgical wounds with her dad from the earliest of years so perhaps it was always going to be the career of a surgeon in her future.
A passionate lover of all animals she has far too many horses and has competed successfully in shows all around the country, traveling with her family to wherever the show lands.
She is well placed to reflect on a career as a female surgeon in a male dominated world - in an institution that wasn't immediately too enthusiastic about having her as a fellow, never mind as faculty!!
Like and subscribe - and please comment.
Don't forget, this is also available to watch on @Youtube along with all the other interviews.
https://twitter.com/drtracyhull?lang=en
https://www.facs.org/for-medical-prof...
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/staff/...

Sir Norman Williams - Surgeon, Snooker Fan and Politician

Professor Sir Norman Williams is a big cheese in many areas.
First off, he has been a big name in the colorectal surgery field for decades, contributing so game-changing papers on rectal cancer and pelvic floor diseases. I first met him in 1984 so this was a fascinating discussion for us both.
Alongside the clinical and research achievements, he became President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and continues today to advise successive Governments on healthcare strategy and implementation.
He is a fanatical sports fan - especially rugby (and snooker many years ago) and still meets his old rugby pals to remember games and re-write history over a few beers.
His views on leadership styles are well worth hearing for anyone starting out in surgery and politics - indeed all of this interview is worth watching.
Don't forget, you can also watch the full interview on YouTube, #SurgeonsLives where you should also Like, subscribe and comment please.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Stanley_Williams
https://acmedsci.ac.uk/fellows/fellows-directory/ordinary-fellows/fellow/Norman%20Stanley-Williams-0033z00002qIIapAAG
https://www.gov.uk/government/people/norman-williams

Rick Greene - Cancer, Podcasts and almost movie stardom

Frederick L Greene MD - Rick to his innumerable friends and colleagues - has been at the center of the cancer world for decades.  Known for his long-standing editorial role with the AJCC Staging Manual he served as Chair of the Commission on Cancer at the American College of Surgeons. He remains passionate about the role of Cancer Registries and most importantly, the Cancer Registrars themselves.  He still serves as the Medical Director of the Levine Cancer Center in Charlotte.
He was a founding member of SAGES and Past-President and has been an active media personality since starting his first radio show in his early teens.  He was a podcaster before there were such things and presents several podcasts on medical and surgical matters even today.  And no, he has no plans to give up any time soon.
What you might not know is that he was almost in the movies - Hollywood's loss eh!!  He could have been challenging Robert De Niro for top honors!
 
All in all, don't miss this fascinating discussion - or watch it on YouTube if you prefer.
https://www.generalsurgerynews.com/Podcasts/Article/09-20/Sound-Medicine-Podcast-Frederick-L-Greene-MD-The-Gifts-of-Experience/59599
https://www.doximity.com/profiles/fefe7a76-b69d-461e-8e2c-d76d81d078fc/view
https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/news-publications/news-and-articles/cancer-programs-news/072122/acs-launches-new-podcast-series-surgical-readings-from-srgs/
https://www.surgonc.org/annals/speaking-of-surgonc/
 

Jim Fleshman - an Irishman in America?

Jim Fleshman is the Chair of Surgery in Dallas - he moved to Baylor about a decade ago after a stellar career almost entirely at Wash U in St. Louis.
Born in New Orleans he essentially grew up in Bangor in Northern Ireland in the midst of "The Troubles" before the family moved to the Mid-West where he spent most of his adult life.
An early advocate of the academic way in colorectal surgery he led a number of NCI funded trials while rising to the top of the political tree as President of ASCRS and ABCRS.
Now he tries to mentor early career surgeons in different ways of achieving success beyond work, work, work!
7 grandkids take up much time, as does trying to visit all the MLB parks before he is done. He doesn't seem to have any plans to retire, mainly because he wife doesn't want him home and bored!!
Enjoy - or watch the video interview on YouTube
https://www.bswhealth.com/physician/james-fleshman
https://www.jamesivassociationsurgeons.com/dr-james-fleshman
https://twitter.com/jamesfleshmanm1
 

Joep Knol - Surgery, Pasta and Football

Joep Knol is a Dutch surgeon who has worked for many years in Belgium where his reputation for technical mastery and educational innovation has produced global recognition.
His iLapp foundation was started to try and produce a new pathway for teaching surgery which has become a passion. Growing up an undersized kid in Nigmegen - remember the movie?? - he was an enthusiastic and skilled goalie who idolized the great Johann Cruyff. He soon regained the expected tall person Dutch stature and established his career in the medieval city of Leuven.
Now he travels every month to Sicily for Espresso, pasta and surgery - not necessarily in that order! Bratislava is next on the horizon.
Speaking during a quick work break in Portugal he covers all of these stories as well as future ambitions and a couple of regrets.
Don't forget you can also see the entire interview on YouTube @Surgeonslives
http://www.knol.be/home-en/
https://twitter.com/KnolJoep
https://websurg.com/en/authors/102468 https://youtu.be/9kmlTF3kNLg?si=DvIHW6lIDndlZj5h

Andrew Stevenson - Brisbane Surgeon, Sailor and Snow Fiend

Andrew Stevenson is one of Australia's foremost Colorectal Surgeons. Brought up in Melbourne he was there at the start of laparoscopy during his Fellowship in Brisbane - where he has stayed for all of his Consultant career.
However, it would be a mistake to think he is a home boy. He travelled alone from Melbourne to Vancouver when he was 14 - and stayed for a year of high school. he fell in love with snow sports and is now a qualified Canadian skiing instructor!
Let's not forget the amazing work he has done on clinical trials in Australia - not an easy job. When he isn't designing a new study he can be found on his beautiful catamaran most weekends sailing and racing around the coast.
This one you should hear - a real lesson in how to do it all and maintain a work/life balance!
Also available @SurgeonsLives on YouTube  
https://www.svph.org.au/specialists/dr-andrew-stevenson-colorectal-surgeon
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-stevenson-2bab07a0/?originalSubdomain=au
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew-Stevenson-7