Famous Attendings

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studyinghard

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Has anybody here had the chance to round with/present to a famous attending alive or dead (Dr. Oz, Sanjay Gupta, Ben Carson, Atul Gawande, Debakey, etc...)?

-studyinghard
 
Sure:

Michael Debakey, Denton Cooley, George Noon, Joseph Coselli, Charles Fraser in Houston, and John Oswalt in Austin - several thousand heart transplants among them... An advantage that Texas med-students have had over the last thirty years.
 
as I lay myself down to sleep each night the ghost of Dr. Debakey comes to me and whispers in my ear, "you are the one. the chosen one. the one who will lead the people into the future without fear."

i awake and wonder, is it true???

on the nightstand next to me is a picture of a heart in the middle of a CABG.....it goes through half a beat each night....counting down the day until my arrival as an attending.....



















































































































(punctuation is correct as in the dream. in death Dr. Debakey speaks entirely in lower case....)
 
Shared an elevator with DeBakey when I was a med student. He deliberately eye-balled me up and down. Nearly pissed myself...I definitely forgot to push the button for the ground floor. That night I rode with Debakey down to the sub basement of the garage by accident. Found out the next day that DeBakey only rides the elevator alone, and if the elevator opens with Debakey inside, you do NOT get on. He's the man...may he rest in peace.
 
When I was a med student, I did some clinical research with the Chairman of Surgery at my school. He was a CT surgeon who had a long history in Houston before coming to my institution. He regularly had DeBakey, Cooley, and Mattox up as Visiting Professors. He would take a couple of "worthy" med students along to lunch after their talks. I was one of the "chosen" ones. DeBakey seemed miffed at the idea of med students at his lunch. He only talked about himself. Mattox was kind of scary -- he seemed to say outlandish things to see what your response would be. Cooley was a true gentleman. He had a long conversation with the students about making choices in your career and in your life.
 
Scrubbed In said:
Shared an elevator with DeBakey when I was a med student. He deliberately eye-balled me up and down. Nearly pissed myself...I definitely forgot to push the button for the ground floor. That night I rode with Debakey down to the sub basement of the garage by accident. Found out the next day that DeBakey only rides the elevator alone, and if the elevator opens with Debakey inside, you do NOT get on. He's the man...may he rest in peace.
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Wow. thats pretty toolish.
 
maxheadroom said:
No, DeBakey had a key to the elevators and would kick people out so he could ride alone. I have confirmation from a friend who trained there.
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Yep. I was told the same when I did a rotation as a medical student there. "If you see DeBakey on the elevator, just nod to him, and wait for the next one. Do not get on." I thought it ridiculous as well but had no interest in riding along with someone like that.
 
Bill_Brasky said:
as I lay myself down to sleep each night the ghost of Dr. Debakey comes to me and whispers in my ear, "you are the one. the chosen one. the one who will lead the people into the future without fear."
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that if the ghost of Debakey came to you, it would whisper in your ear, "Why the hell are you sleeping you lazy SOB?? Get back to work!!"
 
southernIM said:
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that if the ghost of Debakey came to you, it would whisper in your ear, "Why the hell are you sleeping you lazy SOB?? Get back to work!!"
Click to expand...

:laugh: true
 
Pompacil said:
Brilliant retort toughguy. Just because your late hero was handy with a knife doesn't give him a douchebag liscence.
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I respect your take on it...

Not saying I agree with DeBakey and his idiosyncracies. We all have ours. Some idiosyncracies would be considered normal...others would leave us to be called a "doucebag". I think that by their nature, people who make significant change tend to not care about what is normal. They care less than most about what other people think, professionally and personally, and that's one reason why they can not only think up change but also enact it. I have no intention of following in the footsteps of DeBakey; my plan is to learn how to operate and simply enjoy taking care of patients. But you have to hand it to the guy...he contributed a tremendous amount to the science and development of modern surgery.
 
Scrubbed In said:
I respect your take on it...

Not saying I agree with DeBakey and his idiosyncracies. We all have ours. Some idiosyncracies would be considered normal...others would leave us to be called a "doucebag". I think that by their nature, people who make significant change tend to not care about what is normal. They care less than most about what other people think, professionally and personally, and that's one reason why they can not only think up change but also enact it. I have no intention of following in the footsteps of DeBakey; my plan is to learn how to operate and simply enjoy taking care of patients. But you have to hand it to the guy...he contributed a tremendous amount to the science and development of modern surgery.
Click to expand...

Yes, he was a giant in his field. He also provided others with some dope stories, so he's got that going for him too.
 
Scrubbed In said:
I respect your take on it...

Not saying I agree with DeBakey and his idiosyncracies. We all have ours. Some idiosyncracies would be considered normal...others would leave us to be called a "doucebag". I think that by their nature, people who make significant change tend to not care about what is normal. They care less than most about what other people think, professionally and personally, and that's one reason why they can not only think up change but also enact it. I have no intention of following in the footsteps of DeBakey; my plan is to learn how to operate and simply enjoy taking care of patients. But you have to hand it to the guy...he contributed a tremendous amount to the science and development of modern surgery.
Click to expand...

I'll avoid commentary on whether or not forcing others to get off "your" elevator counts as simply being idiosyncratic and just say that Cooley is by far the more gentlemanly in person.
 
SocialistMD said:
I'll avoid commentary on whether or not forcing others to get off "your" elevator counts as simply being idiosyncratic and just say that Cooley is by far the more gentlemanly in person.
Click to expand...

Yep, I saw some old documentary about him. Its not hard to be polite.

Theres a difference between being a scientific visionary and thinking outside the box, vs. thinking of unusual ways to demonstrate your influence, or put people in their place.

Gotta hand it to Scrubbed In tho... clever with the IM thread link.

With your screen name, Im thinking... surgery resident? Scrubbed In.... "Nurse, answer my page, and tell whoever it is that I am scrubbed in".
.... I am scrubbed in... I AM Scrubbed In!
 
I named my pet fish "Debakey" and he died too. If i had known the guy was such a jerk my fish would have gotten a much cooler name. Oh well.
 
I agree that my few encounters with the greats of the surgery world have shown them to really fall into two camps of either being narcissisitic and obnoxious are true gentlemen. Personally I'll take the later. Who cares if the world tells you that you are great and everyone hates you behind your back.
 
I scrubbed in on several cases with Ben Carson. Very nice approachable guy. One of the best bedside manners of any surgeon I've worked with.
 
tussy said:
I named my pet fish "Debakey" and he died too. If i had known the guy was such a jerk my fish would have gotten a much cooler name. Oh well.
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That's funny:laugh:

A jerk is a jerk, no matter the accomplisment and i have no respect for such!
 
Being in Houston we hear plenty of crazy stories. One of our attendings likes to tell a story about DeBakey firing a resident for hitting the wrong button in the elevator. Maybe thats when he started riding solo :laugh:

Another one tells a story about being a medical student at Baylor when he made an off hand comment about his hand going numb during a case and DeBakey went postal on him, kicking him out of the OR.

I scrubbed a lot of cases with Dr. Red Duke, if that counts as famous....maybe only in Texas.
 
I saw Dr. Red Duke once in Memorial Hermann Hospital...
 
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studyinghard said:
Has anybody here had the chance to round with/present to a famous attending alive or dead (Dr. Oz, Sanjay Gupta, Ben Carson, Atul Gawande, Debakey, etc...)?

-studyinghard
Click to expand...

Didn't round or present but I have had the chance to meet or speak to Dr. Keith Black MD (the nation's top neuro surgical oncologist) at a biomedical science symposium, Dr. David Matock (the father of vaginal rejuvenation and laser vaginoplasty) is of my mentors, Dr. Clive O callender (a pioneer in minority organ transplant surgery) was my Howard interviewer, and LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., MD (a world renowned surgical oncologist) at a surgical oncology symposium.
 
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Ive met Dr Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa. He was very nice. I was suprized by the way he appeared on the Hopkins mini-series.... that touch of self aggrandizement on the documentary wasnt there at all, when I met him.
 
Not as famous as DeBakey but I met LD Britt during my oral Board certification exam (as well as a few others but he was the only name I readily recognized).

He was a condescending ass, IMHO.

NB: funny thing is, I was talking to my ex a few days before my exam (without knowing who my examiners were going to be) and he brings up Britt by name (odd, because even though he's a trauma surgeon, he didn't train with him) and tells me what a jerk he is. My heart sank a little when I saw him on the list for my last room.

PS...don't tell him I wrote this...he might revoke my results. 😉
 
howelljolly said:
Ive met Dr Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa. He was very nice. I was suprized by the way he appeared on the Hopkins mini-series.... that touch of self aggrandizement on the documentary wasnt there at all, when I met him.
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Yeah, that guy came across as a total tool. All the fist-pumping and hopping around going, "Yeeeeees!" I'm not sure that he's really a famous dude beyond that Hopkins show, but I'm not too well-informed about Neurosurg dudes beyond Carson.
 
maxheadroom said:
Yeah, that guy came across as a total tool. All the fist-pumping and hopping around going, "Yeeeeees!" I'm not sure that he's really a famous dude beyond that Hopkins show, but I'm not too well-informed about Neurosurg dudes beyond Carson.
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Yep, in person, he's the most down-to-earth, humble person around, and makes it a point to give credit where it's due.
 
Winged Scapula said:
Not as famous as DeBakey but I met LD Britt during my oral Board certification exam (as well as a few others but he was the only name I readily recognized).

He was a condescending ass, IMHO.

NB: funny thing is, I was talking to my ex a few days before my exam (without knowing who my examiners were going to be) and he brings up Britt by name (odd, because even though he's a trauma surgeon, he didn't train with him) and tells me what a jerk he is. My heart sank a little when I saw him on the list for my last room.

PS...don't tell him I wrote this...he might revoke my results. 😉
Click to expand...

Now, that's a bummer to hear.🙁 On the SESAP audio companion, he seemed like an awesome guy....funny, charismatic, etc......
 
SLUser11 said:
Now, that's a bummer to hear.🙁 On the SESAP audio companion, he seemed like an awesome guy....funny, charismatic, etc......
Click to expand...

Maybe he is, except for that fact that another friend who had him as a board examiner (took the exam the day before me), also said the same thing.

I suspect its his MO as an examiner - he really challenges you, "you would REALLY do that doctor?". "You would waste all that money on exams doctor? I already told you he was asymptomatic.(penetrating trauma patient)"

"So you have no science to back that up doctor, just a feeling? Do you always manage your patients without evidence doctor?" (questioning why I admitted a patient despite a negative work-up)

Meh...
 
I had LD Britt for my orals as well. I liked him. I thought he was a stern but fair examiner. He did not come across as condescending to me. Just my opinion though. It is hard to judge a person by how they treat you during the orals. For me most of the experience was so surreal that now its all a blur.
 
eclcell said:
I had LD Britt for my orals as well. I liked him. I thought he was a stern but fair examiner. He did not come across as condescending to me. Just my opinion though. It is hard to judge a person by how they treat you during the orals. For me most of the experience was so surreal that now its all a blur.
Click to expand...

I'm sure there's a lot of personal perception that goes into it. Or perhaps because it was the last room on the last day he was a bit tired of it all!

Didn't think he was unfair, but he was the ONLY one who was "stern" or condescending with me so it stuck out.
 
platon20 said:
I scrubbed in on several cases with Ben Carson. Very nice approachable guy. One of the best bedside manners of any surgeon I've worked with.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear that Dr. Carson is as good of a person as I had envisioned in my head haha. I read his book and have seen other things about him and he seemed like a real calm and down to earth guy. I hope to get the chance to meet/work with him before he retires. I also feel like Alfred Blalock would have been an interesting character to meet.
 
I had the chance to sit down with Dr. Blaisdell (for the med students-trauma guru, invented the ax-fem bypass, and a cardiovascular surgeon trained by Cooley and DeBakey) and talk with him for about an hour. He is awesome! His charismatic manner and stories about surgery, residency training, and his training in Houston were fantastic. A true leader and was probably an ideal mentor, prior to his retirement.
 
Debakey was not too much fun to be around. Everyone hated the way he treated people. I have heard that he was a jerk because he was never really comfortable in the OR, and I believe the source.

A true role model is Dr Denton Cooley: the true master surgeon and gentleman. 100% comfortable in any situation- in or out of the OR. I think Debakey hated him since he knew he was better.
 
Thanatos said:
Another one tells a story about being a medical student at Baylor when he made an off hand comment about his hand going numb during a case and DeBakey went postal on him, kicking him out of the OR.

I scrubbed a lot of cases with Dr. Red Duke, if that counts as famous....maybe only in Texas.
Click to expand...


thats one way of getting out of there and going home early. as long as he didnt write your evals at the end
 
I have met a few famous surgeons. A lot of times the reputation and the reality are different. People are complex creatures. We can be nice one moment and throw F-bombs the next. My chairman from medical school had a reputation in the past for the potential to be the scariest instrument throwing, F-bomb wielding maniac who threatened and succeed in ending many careers. However during my interactions with him, he was as calm as a zen master, had impeccable manners, and never once raised his voice. He exemplified everything I wanted to be as a surgeon.

I know I probably had some Jekyl and Hyde moments too, although tempered by the fact that I'm a junior level resident. I can't throw anyone out of the elevator... yet.
 
ESU_MD said:
Debakey was not too much fun to be around. Everyone hated the way he treated people. I have heard that he was a jerk because he was never really comfortable in the OR, and I believe the source.

A true role model is Dr Denton Cooley: the true master surgeon and gentleman. 100% comfortable in any situation- in or out of the OR. I think Debakey hated him since he knew he was better.
Click to expand...

In the same vein as Debakey, you haven't really lived until you've had to call Dr. Hiram Polk in the middle of the night and tell him one of his patients has died.

Or let him catch you wearing scrubs outside the OR.

Good times. 😀
 
Scrubbed In said:
Shared an elevator with DeBakey when I was a med student. He deliberately eye-balled me up and down. Nearly pissed myself...I definitely forgot to push the button for the ground floor. That night I rode with Debakey down to the sub basement of the garage by accident. Found out the next day that DeBakey only rides the elevator alone, and if the elevator opens with Debakey inside, you do NOT get on. He's the man...may he rest in peace.
Click to expand...

Don't know if this counts but i was once in an elevator with Noah Wyle and before i could piss my pants, i was asked to leave.
 
Winged Scapula said:
Yep. I was told the same when I did a rotation as a medical student there. "If you see DeBakey on the elevator, just nod to him, and wait for the next one. Do not get on." I thought it ridiculous as well but had no interest in riding along with someone like that.
Click to expand...

That's really funny. For some reason, I had always imagined him as a perfectly reasonable person. Perhaps it's because people just look so non-intimidating when they're 97.

Makes you wonder what he did in there by himself.
 
DeBakey's real name was Dabaghi, which is of Middle Eastern origin.

I was kind of put off when I learned that he felt that he needed to change his name in order to fit in, or to get ahead, or whatever.

Rides alone in an elevator that he has the fire-department key to... ruins careers... ashamed of his heritage.... legendary


Ive also met the OB/Gyn who is credited with deliniating the phases of labor... cant remember his name for the life of me, though.
 
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howelljolly said:
DeBakey's real name was Dabaghi, which is of Middle Eastern origin.

I was kind of put off when I learned that he felt that he needed to change his name in order to fit in, or to get ahead, or whatever.
Click to expand...

But think about when DeBakey trained and what the US was like at that time.

Any one not a white upper middle class male was often held in disdain or with suspicion amongst the general populace, including medicine. He was lucky in that he could "pass" as a white man.

Females and people like Vivien Thomas didn't have that luxury. If DeBakey felt that he needed to change his name to be successful, I think its hard for us, given our lack of experience as to what it was really like back then, to criticize him. Not everyone is cut out for, or has interest in being Don Quixote.
 
howelljolly said:
DeBakey's real name was Dabaghi, which is of Middle Eastern origin.

I was kind of put off when I learned that he felt that he needed to change his name in order to fit in, or to get ahead, or whatever.

Rides alone in an elevator that he has the fire-department key to... ruins careers... ashamed of his heritage.... legendary


Ive also met the OB/Gyn who is credited with deliniating the phases of labor... cant remember his name for the life of me, though.
Click to expand...

His family is of Lebanese origin. It wasn't that uncommon in his time to Anglicize a name in order to fit in better with American culture.
 
Anglicizing surnames, or changing them, was common back in the mid-20th century for many professionals. Read a history book. And, you can use Jon Stewart, of The Daily Show, as a current example. His real name is Jonathan Leibowitz, but he considered it too Jewish for television. 🙂
 
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