ANESTHESIOLOGY | UNC HEALTH CARE, CHAPEL HILL | APPOINTED 2014 | BOARD MEMBER

Q: What is the best lesson you have learned from your personal or professional life experiences?
A: I try to live life according to my favorite quote by Abraham Lincoln: “If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what’s said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”

Q: What is the biggest challenge facing medicine or medical regulation?
A: Mounting political pressure on our profession. Most physicians enter the profession truly wanting to help people, but without sufficient knowledge of all of the external forces that will impact them. As physicians, it is imperative that we are represented in board rooms and legislative sessions so that we have a voice in decisionmaking. Otherwise, we risk having our future defined for us by forces that may not share our goals.

Q: What do you wish the public or other medical professionals understood about the Board?
A: I wish that they knew that we are “regular doctors” who understand the challenges and obstacles that they face. We are not just a group of nameless, faceless bureaucrats. We have practices and families and call schedules and we understand what it is like to take care of patients. We use this human element in every deliberation and decision.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about your service on the Board?
A: The opportunity to grow as a physician. I have been able to become more thoughtful and deliberate, and I know that this has translated into improved care for my patients. I have also enjoyed bringing my unique perspective to the Board. As an anesthesiologist, I have been trained to look at the big picture, and am able to rapidly synthesize data to make sound decisions. I hope this perspective has been beneficial to the Board.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about practicing medicine?
A: As a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist, I often meet people at one of the most stressful periods of their lives. They are facing large, complicated surgical procedures such as coronary bypass surgery or lung transplant, where the outcome is unknown. Being able to meet people at this time, rapidly develop a rapport with them or their family members, and get them through this period is extremely rewarding.