Surgeons’ Lives - Stuff that Matters

Helen Heneghan is the Chair of Surgery at St. Vincent Hospital in Dublin where she leads a bariatric program under an academic umbrella. She was born on the other side of the country in Galway, where she grew up and went to medical school and also started her surgery training. She spent time in the UK and then at the Cleveland Clinic in the USA. These overseas experiences bookended PhD research in Galway. In a fascinating interview today, we discussed the impact mentors have a trainee, the challenges of work-life balance, being married to a colorectal surgeon and the future of academic surgery. Outside of the office, spending time with her daughter is clearly the main priority, but Helen has a secret ambition to become a pastry chef and learn to play outstanding quality golf. Luckily, neither ambition is a dealbreaker. Apologies for some sound issues in this interview that thankfully it's only related to my side of the conversation. Helen comes through loud and clear. If you prefer to watch rather than listening, then don't forget that this interview is available on the dedicated YouTube channel @Surgeonslives. Please subscribe to the channel and hit the like button and send all your comments to me below. https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-heneghan-59900739a/ https://x.com/HeneghanHelen https://www.instagram.com/heneghanhelen/  

Dr. Feza Remzi is the Vice-President, IBD surgery at Northwell Health, New York. His is a true immigrant's tale, having been born in Ankara, Turkey, where he went to medical school, following the path of his parents. Almost immediately after graduation, he moved to the United States, where he planned to be a Urologist like his father. However, failure knocked on his door and he was forced to find an alternative route to success. A preliminary year in general surgery was followed by a full residency at the Cleveland clinic and then a fellowship in Colorectal Surgery. By now he had fallen under both the spell and mentorship of Dr. Victor Fazio, who became a guiding light in his career. Ultimately, feza was chosen to replace Dr. Fazio, as Chairman of the Department of Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland clinic, a position held for nine years. Circumstances changed, and Feza left the clinic quite unexpectedly and abruptly to build a new program of IBD surgery at NYU Langone in New York City. Seven years later moved to Northwell Health, where he is in the process of doing the same thing at the Center for Advanced IBD Surgery. In a fascinating conversation, we cover many topics, including failure, betrayal, family values, and what really matters in life. This is one not to be missed. If you prefer to watch rather than listen, then the entire interview is available on the dedicated #Surgeonslives @Youtube channel. Please don't forget to subscribe to the channel, hit the like button and send any comments you may have. #surgery #stuffthatmatters #loyalty #betrayal #mentorship #immigrantstale #family #leadership 

Tim Michell lives in Southampton and is an ENT surgeon specializing in cochlear implants. He has just stepped down following a highly successful three year period as President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. From a clinical perspective, he has spent his entire consultant life in Southampton having graduated medical school from Oxford. He was actually born in Belfast, but almost immediately departed to spend the rest of his life in the south of England. His path to ENT surgery was almost organic - as he notes during the discussion he never had a master plan. Having fallen into ENT surgery he soon developed a special interest in cochlear implants which has become his main clinical interest. His engagement with the Royal College of Surgeons was almost equally serendipitous. However, once inside the doors, his rise to become Council member, Vice-President and then President was certainly rapid, if not meteoric. His Presidency has been marked by the challenges, facing many organizations and society. Initially, he inherited the leadership of a College undergoing a complete reevaluation of its governance, particularly as it relation to diversity. In addition, he became heavily involved in matters of workplace violence and misconduct, particularly as they relate to Surgery. When he is not dealing with such weighty matters he is an enthusiastic touring cyclist and in recent years, what was an simple enjoyable hobby has developed into fundraising efforts by cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats. He has further cycling adventures already on the books and will be venturing into Continental Europe. If you prefer to watch rather than listen to this podcast, then the entire interview is available on the dedicated @YouTube channel. Please take a moment to subscribe to the channel and hit the like button. I would also love to hear any comments you may have about this or any of the other interviews.  

Dr John Hunter is a legendary figure in the field of minimally invasive surgery. In the 1980s, before anyone had ever heard of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, he was pursuing higher training in minimally invasive techniques such as endoscopic and laser surgery in a series of fellowships. Born in New Hampshire, he graduated from medical school at the University of Pennsylvania and following residency in Utah, he spent his early Faculty career in Emory, Atlanta. He then headed west where he became Chair of the Department of Surgery in Portland, Oregon where he has been ever since. Over several decades, he has seen the world from several viewpoints as an attending Surgeon, a departmental leader, a medical school, administrator and CEO of a healthcare system. With this experience, he is more than able to discuss some of the challenges facing healthcare in the United States, as well as the problems facing all of the stakeholders involved in patient care. Throughout his career, he has been a passionate advocate of maintaining the academic mission. He served as president of SAGES, as well as chairman of the American Board of Surgery. His views on the transformation of medical care both good and bad are well worth listening to in this fascinating discussion. If you prefer watching rather than listening, then don't forget that this podcast is available on the dedicated @Youtube channel  Please take a moment to subscribe to the channel as it helps to spread the word. Also press the like button and send whatever comments you may have. Thanks for watching. https://www.ohsu.edu/people/john-g-hunter-md-facs #surgery #leadership #healthcare #academicsurgery #SAGES

Mike Stoner is the Chief of Vascular Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center in upstate New York. Born in Syracuse, he did his College and medical school training in Buffalo before residency and a vascular Fellowship landed him in East Carolina for his first Faculty job. He soon discovered that this was the perfect clinical laboratory for the development of atherosclerotic disease, and led to a period of academic productivity that he was not expecting. Eight years later, he returned to the northeast and joined the University of Rochester where he has been ever since. In a wide ranging discussion today, he describes how vascular surgery has become transformed during his career from major operations and amputations to navigating the vascular system with wires, balloons, and probes as well as functioning as the delivery mechanism for a range of targeted therapeutic molecules. Throughout his time and Rochester, he has dedicated much time to developing a culture that supports the success of colleagues at all levels. This is something that has become his main ambition in recent years. Like many before him, the pandemic resulted in him exploring new hobbies. In this case, Mike and his wife became golfing novices and before long became huge enthusiasts - despite the early recognition that the game would likely always win. Please don't forget to subscribe to the channel. It really matters. I would love to hear your comments as well. You prefer to watch rather than listen then do not forget that this interview is available on the dedicated @YouTube channel #vascularhealth #vascularsurgeon #Rochester #culture #culturetransformation #leadership #research #golf #hobbies  

Julio Garcia-Aguilar was born in a small village near Madrid, Spain with no specific background in the medical field. In search for higher education he went to the big city, where he soon graduated from medical school from the University of Madrid. Following the advice of mentors he moved to the United States for a period of Research. He's obvious talent was soon spotted before long, he found himself completing some residency years and then being recruited to complete a Colorectal fellow Northwell with Dr. Stan Goldberg and his colleagues. They were smart enough to make sure he didn't leave and he became an attending in Minneapolis where he commenced a lifelong passion for clinical trials that move the needle inpatient care. In this case, Julio was determined to change the approach to rectal cancer. Through a combination of dogged determination, stamina, and persistence. He has had multiple NCI grants and conducted several game changing clinical trials, which he established on a national Collaborative basis.  In recent years he has probably been best known for leading the northern hemisphere charge in terms of non-operative management of rectal cancer. However, there is much more to Julio than a hard-working Surgeon and researcher. Despite his early years near Madrid, he is a passionate Barcelona fan and continues to support his first love of Atlético Madrid. Although he is a little restricted by living in Manhattan he continues to be an enthusiastic cyclist. In this wide ranging podcast conversation, we cover many of these issues and some more as well. So please don't hesitate to subscribe to the channel and hit that button. If you prefer to watch rather than listen then the full video conversation is available on the dedicated #YouTube channel https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/doctors/julio-garcia-aguilar https://www.linkedin.com/in/garcia-aguilar-julio-surgery-b3725973/ #rectalcancer #surgery #lifestyle #mentor #colorectalsurgery #research #barça #athleticomadrid #realmadrid #MSKCC

Professor Frank Smith - Professor of Vascular Surgery - hails from the Midlands of the UK having been born and brought up in Birmingham, where his parents were both anesthesia doctors. He spent a year of early life in San Diego when his father worked there with the legendary surgery Chair, Marshall Orloff and was left with a lifelong love for the USA. As a medical school in Birmingham he flew below the academic radar but did develop a passion for parachute jumping at a competitive level and also qualified as a pilot. Once he started his surgical training this true potential started to shine through. As a senior trainee he was "talent spotted" by the late Professor John Farndon who at that time was building an academic surgical unit in Bristol. He tapped Frank to be their vascular lead and from that perspective the rest is history. Rising through the academic ranks in Bristol he began to engage with the Royal College of Surgeons of England where he now serves as a senior Vice-President. He has been a dedicated leader in the field of surgical education and training and has sat on innumerable committees and boards serving all four Royal Colleges. He shows no signs of slowing down although his sky-diving is less frequent these days. This is a man well worth hearing and one of the surgical "good guys". https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-smith-15b68b80/ https://coress.org.uk/professor-frank-smith/ https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/archive/welcoming-our-new-vice-president-2024/ #surgeonslives #stuffthatmatters #surgery #lifestyle #worklifebalance #skydiving #flying #royalcollege #training #education #surgicalresearch If you prefer to watch rather than listen, then don't forget that the full interview is available on all the dedicated #Youtube channel  Please like and subscribe and of course COMMENT

Erin King-Mullins is quite a force of nature. Born in Florida to a Southern Baptist family she followed her sister into medicine and pursued a career in Colorectal surgery. Initially following the standard employed surgeon model she began to realize that the system did not share her values. Unlike many others Erin decided to strike out on her own by setting up her own single handed practice in urban Atlanta some 4 years ago. Supported by her husband's exceptional Excel spreadsheet skills she took the plunge and despite finding much of the experience terrifying, has never regretted the decision. To say it has been a learning experience would be an understatement and during this wide-ranging discussion we touched on topics as different as battling prejudice, truly understanding what it takes to be loyal to personal values and of course the challenges of balancing all of this with the roles of being a wife and Mom. And let's not forget that she would like to have Jesus and Dave Chapelle as dinner guests and get some straight answers from both of them. Don't forget to like and subscribe to the channel and please send your comments. If you prefer to watch rather than listen, then this full interview is available on the YouTube channel. #surgery #surgeonslives #stuffthatmatters #privatepractice #lifestyle #davechapelle #becomingindependant #beatingprejudice #tushytouchup https://colowellness.com/erin-king-mullins-md/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekmullins/ https://health.usnews.com/doctors/erin-king-mullins-694529  

Rowan Parks was born into surgery in Belfast, where his father George was a Colorectal Surgeon who became President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Growing up amidst the troubles in Belfast he decided to pursue a medical career and was accepted to his first choice of Queens University Belfast. A pretty standard training pathway followed but took an unexpected turn when he decided to spend a time in the HPB unit at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. He never returned to Belfast and 28 years later he is able to reflect on a career that reached many peaks and culminated in being elected President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Before the three years he spent representing the College around the world Rowan had become immersed in matters educational and training paradigms in Scotland and beyond. In fact, he has recently returned to that first love since finishing his tenure as president. Along the way we discuss faith, nepotism, travel and missing talents! If you prefer to watch rather than listen then don't forget that the entire podcast is available on the #SurgeonsLives channel on Youtube  #surgery #royalcollegeofsurgeons #education #medicalpolitics #HPBsurgery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rowan_Parks https://surgery.ed.ac.uk/staff/profiles/rowan-parks https://www.linkedin.com/in/rowan-parks-2032116/  

The latest episode of #Surgeonslives #stuffthatmatters is out now with valentine who talks us through a life journey from Cameroon to Chair! To describe Val Nfonsam as an over achiever would be too easy because he is much more than that. He is currently the Chair of Surgery at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia having moved there from a 2-year stint as Chair of Surgery in LSA, Louisiana. However, when he was in school in his home country of Cameroon, Central Africa, his main concern was getting to high school and university. High school and undergraduate studies were in neighboring Nigeria before he landed in Chicago in the winter. Postgraduate study was followed by a decision to go to medical school. He was no sophisticate in that process but due to a combination of hard work, talent and some luck he landed in the University of Illinois. Residency soon followed before he went to the University of Arizona in Tucson for 11 years. His ambition to lead a Department landed him in LSU for 2 years before his current position. The LSU experience was challenging and mistakes were made and lessons learnt in what Val describes as part of life's journey. Don't forget that is you prefer to listen rather than watch then the full interview is available on all your favorite podcast audio platforms such as Spotify and Podbean. #surgery #lifelessons #leadership #lifestyle #cameroon #morehousecollege #colorectalsurgery #mistakes https://www.msm.edu/about_us/FacultyD... https://www.msm.edu/Education/surgery...