The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
What is your hometown?
Port Huron, Mich.
How/when did you become interested in science and medicine?
I come from a blue-collar family and grew up in an era where being a physician was the most honorable and trusted of vocations. One of my earliest childhood memories is of our family doctor coming to our house at 2 or 3 a.m. and putting me in an ice bath in our bathtub for a very high fever. I remember the starched white shirt, gentle manner, and trust my whole family had in him. There were no economic overtones. As for science, I had the most incredible biology teacher in college. He had a childlike fascination and enthusiasm for life and its processes. I feel the same way.
What interested you to pursue a career in surgery, and vascular surgery, in particular?
Long story, but the short version is I traded a motorcycle for a horse. Having no real frame of reference, I read the book, “The Making of a Surgeon”, by Bill Nolan. Obviously, a different era, the Sixties, but captivating to me. A definite influence later. I actually entered college with the intent to become a veterinarian, specifically an equine practitioner, and had a practice opportunity lined up. I shifted gears sometime in my junior year. My early mentors were internists, and I thought long and hard about a career in internal medicine, but ultimately my heart led me to surgery.
Is there a teacher or mentor who helped shape your career?
There have been several over the years at each stage of my career. I think we tend to end up amalgams of the many influential teachers and mentors we experience.
When did you come to the University of Iowa as a faculty member? How or why did you choose the UI?
I came to the University of Iowa as an intern in 1982. At the completion of my vascular training I returned to my home town in the practice of general and vascular surgery. The end of a chapter. It was an opportunity to give a little back to the community, renew some important relationships, and spend time with my aging parents. It was the fulfillment of a goal and an incredibly worthwhile experience. Ultimately, an opportunity remained available here at the UI and I was able to return to the energy, vitality, and daily fun and challenges associated with the academic teaching environment.
What kinds of professional opportunities or advantages does being a faculty member at Iowa provide? What about challenges?
The opportunities are nearly limitless, depending on one’s interests. There is a richness that can’t be found outside such an institution. The challenges are also limitless, which is not all bad. We embrace diversity, but tend to promote conformity.
Please describe your professional interests.
Although my clinical activities are in vascular surgery, my primary responsibility is the administration of the General Surgery Residency Program. I have had the opportunity to function in this role for about 10 or so years. I tell people I am the person the residency program runs. As everyone is aware, there is a reformation of sorts afoot in postgraduate medical education. This has created enormous challenges on the road to becoming a surgeon. Seems I’ve gone from reading, “The Making of a Surgeon”, to working on making some surgeons of my own. It’s an incredible process.
What are some of your outside interests?
Do you have room? Just kidding. My primary avocation is hobby farming. It provides an outlet and is enjoyable for my family, friends, school groups and others. Actually, I have a lot of hobbies – I try to enjoy everything I do. Maybe we can talk about these another time. I wouldn’t want to disillusion anyone.
Do you have an insight or philosophy that guides you in your professional work?
I’m a Golden Rule person. I try to treat everyone the way I would like to be treated. Obviously, given my shortcomings I don’t always succeed, but I try always to try. I’ll share another one I came across recently that I like a lot, “Be an architect of the ought, not a defender of the is.” A common thread, I suppose.
If you could change one thing about the world (or the world of medicine), what would it be?
Decrease the money focus. Practicing medicine is a unique opportunity to contribute to and improve the well-being of your fellow beings. An economic focus, as real as it is, doesn’t belong. The other one thing I would change would be to decrease the emphasis on the image of what we do and put more emphasis on the reality. Our technology, no matter how advanced, can’t cure us of our humanity. We live in a great country and have incredible advantages – people need to learn how to live.
What is the biggest change you've experienced in your field since you were a medical student?
The endovascular reformation of the specialty. Vascular surgery has become a complete and balanced specialty. I don’t think most people realize that what we do is mostly primary care for people with vascular disease. We bear the stigma of surgeon.
What do you see as "the future" of vascular surgery?
Honestly, I don’t know. There will continue to be many challenges. I think a part of that ‘future’ is clear – there will remain a high demand for vascular disease specialists to care for an aging population. I’m hopeful that an increasing public health focus and public education will decrease the incidence at the front end. The importance of risk factor modification in this disease is so important, yet difficult to institutionalize. It has to begin early, at the level of the individual and family. It is an individual responsibility to try to take care of oneself. I hope we can become ‘preventers’, rather than ‘treaters’.
You have received "Teacher of the Year" awards from medical students, and you direct the Surgical Residency Training Program...Please share your thoughts on the importance of teaching as it pertains to your career and how you shape the careers of students and residents.
First and foremost, I like to think of myself a teacher. I teach patients, residents, and students. I try to teach my kids (not as captive an audience). At the same time, I am a student. I am on my own quest and have been led to the understanding that one cannot presume to know, as this makes the quest unnecessary; likewise, one cannot assume the answers are relative, as this makes the quest meaningless. The education and training of the next generation of physicians and surgeons is not just of passing interest to me, but also likely to you. One of the ever-increasing challenges in this unique environment of being a physician/surgeon educator is achieving a balance between safe, quality patient care and the creation of an educational environment that fosters free thinking, problem solving, and a sense of individual responsibility on the part of the learner. I like to think my major influence is by example. Students and residents need to know you can be a surgeon and human being, too.
What one piece of advice you would give to today's medical students?
Learn as much as you can, keep your eyes open and try to see clearly, work hard to become one with ‘the force’, and remember it’s not all about you.
President Skorton has named academic year 2005-2006 as the "Year of Public Engagement." In what ways are you engaged with the greater Iowa public?
Frankly, I feel like I am engaged with the greater Iowa public daily through contact on a doctor-patient basis. Contacts through my youngest daughter’s elementary school give me an early opportunity to imprint on issues of public health particularly as it relates to blood vessels. At the moment I’m coaching T-ball.