Surgeons’ Lives - Stuff that Matters

Tim Pawlik - Surgeon and Fish Watcher

Tim Pawlik seems to do it all - Surgical Oncologist, Researcher, Chairman - as well as a huge sports fan (Buckeye and Boston), family man and devoted fish watcher.
Trained in Boston, Michigan and Texas he landed in Johns Hopkins for 5 years where he hones his craft as an HPB surgeon before becoming Chair of Surgery at Ohio State in Columbus some 7 years ago.
In this (standing) interview we hear about his early life and decision to become a doctor rather than a priest or car salesman. His love for the Red Sox and Bruins has never been lost even though he is now a dedicated Buckeyes fan. And let's not forget the fascination with Koi Carp!
Watch on YouTube or listen wherever you find your podcasts. Like and subscribe - and comments please!
https://cancer.osu.edu/find-a-doctor/search-physician-directory/timothy-m-pawlik
https://twitter.com/timpawlik https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothypawlik/
https://www.doximity.com/pub/timothy-pawlik-md

Neil Hyman finds his people!

Neil Hyman reached the top in colorectal surgery having realized he was too slow and short to be a professional basketball player. The NBA will never know what they missed!
Growing up in New York he trained with giants like Randy Steinhagen and Vic Fazio before spending the bulk of his career at the University of Vermont and then finally the University of Chicago.
A former President of ASCRS he is as passionate about IBD now as he always was and is relishing his imminent retirement. His interview charts his search for "his people" in surgery and trying to help the generations following in his footsteps.
He worries about life for the young surgeon embarking upon a career today and has some insightful comments about DEI and learning about others.
Like and Subscribe and comment please
https://surgery.uchicago.edu/faculty/neil-hyman-md
https://bucksbauminstitute.uchicago.edu/bio/neil-hyman-md/
https://youtu.be/NDZ-v1Gi-ho?si=DLtTF-ZaqFIpbktU
https://fascrs.org/my-ascrs/leadership/past-presidents/6-6-2020-1-08-50-pm
 

David Rattner Talks

David Rattner has had a stellar career in surgery and his academic achievements should be an inspiration to all surgeons. Decades of clinical and innovation contributions in Boston where he was a fixture at MGH brought many awards including his personal ambition of being a full Professor.
President of SAGES followed along with mentoring many young surgeons and being one of the originators of NOTES. However, it's his comments on life balance, passion for work, and what makes someone come to work with colleagues every day - or not as the case may be - that are worth considering.
Happily retired and living between Boston, Arizona and Florida he has much wisdom to impart to anyone who wants to listen.
Don't forget the YouTube version as well - watch at your leisure.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-rattner-8a31281a6/
https://youtu.be/BtNLDpUs2z4?si=axT-vqRBVYwE60lz
 

”Tarp” Talks

John "Tarp" Tarpley is quite simply a force of energy - blessed with an excellent thyroid gland he says! Despite being long past "retirement" age he continues to work as a huge force for good in African surgery driven by a passion for teaching and his lifelong personal faith.
He is a legend in Vanderbilt where he was Program Director for many years, operative teacher and missions based surgeon. He says he is planning to travel more to see his family in Canada and Switzerland and beyond and is only working part-time at 40 hours a week!
A fanatical college sports fan and season ticket holder there seems to be no stopping him anytime soon!
Hear how he turned down a Hopkins Chairman to choose a different life path for the next half-century. Prepared to be exhausted by his drive, enthusiasm and energy.
https://www.vumc.org/surgical-science...
https://paacs.net/who-we-are/administ...
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/...

Steve Wexner - Brooklyn boy did good!!

Undoubtedly one of the most famous surgeons in the world, Steve Wexner has his fingers in so many pies. He should have followed the family tradition and become a lawyer, judge or politician - but then he might have ended up on the Supreme Court or in the White House!
As it is, he has been a leader of countless organizations and President of many. A Brooklyn boy he had a vision for a career in surgery firmly in his mind from the outset as you will hear in this interview.
He has been Chairman of the Department of Colorectal Surgery in Cleveland Clinic Florida for more than 2 decades and shows no signs of slowing down - quite the opposite in fact. It's all about the next initiative and making a difference.
A mentor to countless surgeons over the years, he is a social media darling and international jet setter without comparison. Watch, listen and learn (and subscribe, like and comment please!!)
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/staff/202-steven-wexner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_D._Wexner
https://twitter.com/SWexner
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevedwexner-md-phd-hon/
https://aischannel.com/faculty/steven-d-wexner
 

Vivian McAlister - Surgeon, Soldier and Historian

This is a special interview you should definitely not miss.
First a disclaimer - Vivian has been a friend since we were medical school classmates more than 40 years ago!!
For the first half hour Vivian describes his early career in Ireland and Canada as a GP before retiring to Ireland after a family tragedy. Stumbling into some surgery training jobs he spent a year in transplantation and his career path was launched Back to Canada where he finished his training and became a fixture in London, Ontario and several provinces beyond building transplantation services from London to Nova Scotia etc.
He developed a strong interest in the so-called catastrophe abdomen and created a training fellowship. When he was 51, he listed to a lecture about surgery in the Canadian armed forces and deployment in Afghanistan.
Before long, he was teaching himself neurosurgery and orthopedics and an entirely new approach to surgery in challenging environments. This journey is the second half hour!!
Recently he has retired from clinical practice and has joined the Department of History and continues to study and research and nurture others in their careers.
Just relax, listen and realize there are many ways to succeed in life!!
https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/generalsurgery/people/faculty/vivian_mcalister.html
https://www.cma.ca/dr-vivian-mcalister
https://youtu.be/Ju6L-lq306Y?si=2fmbeOrm0AGR3Yqf
 

Keith Lillemoe - A Yankee in Boston

On paper Keith Lillemoe MD is the Chair of Surgery at Mass Gen Hospital where he has been for 12 years.
Before that he was Chairman in Indiana after 29 years in Baltimore where he was a medical student, resident and highly successful HPB surgeon.
However, there is much more than that as you will hear during this interview. He is a BIG sports fan and lives under a dark cloud being a life-long Yankee fan in Boston. He even has a seat from Yankee stadium in his office!
He met his wife playing baseball and attributes a sports injury to getting his current job - yes he does!! He is still a Ravens season ticket holder, and when not attending sports events he is hunting duck, playing golf and chillin' in Boca, FL.
All pretty impressive for a farm boy from South Dakota from sturdy Norwegian stock.
And let's not forget, long the way, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of Surgery for more than a decade. Quite the Dude - and he isn't QUITE ready to retire yet.
https://www.massgeneral.org/doctors/1...
https://www.susweb.org/2021/01/29/sus...
https://www.ahpba.org/board_of_direct...

Neil Floch talks obesity, oil painting and social media

Neil Floch is so much more than a Yale Bariatric Surgeon working in Greenwich, CT. He is a passionate advocate for changing the way society views obesity, manages obesity and approaches obese patients.
Medicine and surgery is the family business but dealing in comic books and oil painting perhaps less so.
Neil is one of the stars of social media and has been since the very beginning. His comments on the strengths and weakness of communication this way are fascinating.
Don't miss this latest edition of #SurgeonsLives and #Stuffthatmatters.
https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/dr-neil-floch-to-lead-bariatric-surgery-at-greenwich-yale-surgery/
https://asmbs.org/provider/neil-floch-md-facs-VzYP/
https://twitter.com/NeilFlochMD
https://www.instagram.com/drneilfloch/
 

Julie Freischlag - surgery, leadership and the changing

Julie Freischlag is one of the biggest names in surgery and her CV record of achievements is truly impressive. But there is so much more to her story than the extraordinary CV.
 
A vascular surgeon par excellence, Academic Chair, CEO and Dean and President of the American College of Surgeons would be remarkable enough but her journey through life is far more interesting than that. The real Stuff That Matters is what she describes in this latest interview.
Don't forget to subscribe but I would really love to hear your comments on this and the other interviews please. Thanks for watching.
https://www.wakehealth.edu/about-us/l...
https://www.facs.org/about-acs/acs-hi...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_A...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-ann...

Pascal Fuchshuber - from Germany to California

Pascal Fuchshuber is a Franco-German Yank - OK? Brought up in France with an Austrian name and trained in Germany he was dispatch by his boss to Texas for a Research Fellowship - and never went home again. Brief stints in Boston resulted in a career as a Surgical Oncologist in Kaiser for more than 20 years.
 
Now he is an enthusiastic acute care surgeon enjoying life near San Francisco where he enjoys playing with a small but interesting stable of classic cars.
 
But there is so much more to this man who is just as likely to be found enjoying concert music, scientific history and modern art as he is walking the halls of the annual SAGES meeting. Oh and by the way - he was gifted a Porsche 911.