Missionary Orthopod in the Making

I am now 7 months in after moving my family to Jackson, Mississippi. So what is the verdict so far?…..I love it, my kids love it, and more importantly my wife is happy. When I was evaluating my options about whether to return home to Maryland, to take a job in Texas, or to take a job in Mississippi I was truly stumped. Some of the hospitals offered an academic pedigree that could launch my career to the next level, others offered a high volume practice, others offered seasoned senior partners who could mentor me as I started my practice, etc.

 

As I racked my brain trying to go through every objective measure I spoke with John Herzenberg (link) who has been a mentor to me since early in my orthopaedic residency. In the end he made it very clear that the most important factor is where your wife will be happy and that place was definitely Jackson. After 7 months of living here I can truly say that it was a great decision.  My practice is thriving in a way that may not have been possible elsewhere. I have been able to take care of many kids with scoliosis and hip dysplasia which are two passions of mine. One thing that truly makes me excited to go to work every day is how grateful the patients and the parents are. With Children’s of Mississippi being the only children’s hospital in the state, and with the trend being that many adult orthopaedic surgeons don’t want to treat kids, I have been seeing kids from as far as 4 hours away. Many of my patients also come from across the state line in Louisiana or Alabama. With access to pediatric orthopaedic care so sparse in the state, when a patient finally gets an appointment to see me their gratitude is so palpable that it really makes you know you are in the best profession in the world.

 

Prayer

 

Something that I have been yearning to do, since my time at in medical school at Loma Linda University (LLU) was pray with patients. At LLU we were actually trained on how to seek to improve not only the physical, but the spiritual health of our patients. However, when I went to Hopkins for residency and San Diego for fellowship I almost felt like I had to hide these skills because these patients were not technically mine. If a disgruntled patient decided to complain about my prayer offer to my attending, that could have made training there much more difficult. Perhaps my fear was unfounded, but I refrained from prayer nonetheless. Now that I am an attending, and now that I have my own patients, I’ve slowly been reactivating these skills particularly for the more high-risk surgeries such as hip osteotomies and spinal fusions. Usually in clinic at the patient’s preop appointment, after talking about the surgery and having them sign the consent, I end the session with letting the parents and child know that I pray personally before every case, that God will give me wisdom to make the right decisions in their child’s surgery. My prayer is frequently includes the request that my hands are used to only help the child, not hurt them by some unforeseen complication. Then I tell the parents and patient that while I pray personally before every case, that on the day of surgery, if they desire, I can pray with them also. I tell them that the prayer is completely optional and that they don’t have to feel obligated to say yes. I also tell them that praying doesn’t mean complications won’t occur.

 

On the day of surgery, while the patient is in the preop holding area, after I mark their surgical site, I ask them if they have any more questions about the surgery. If the answer is no, then I let them know again that I will be praying personally before their child’s case, but that if they want, I can pray with them also. So far, I have been extremely surprised that every single family has whole heartedly accepted my invitation for prayer. It has been really powerful thus far to link hands with the patient as they lie on the stretcher and with their parents, asking God for his presence in the operating room and with every member of the surgical staff. While some may argue that being in the Bible Belt makes this process much easier, I believe this can work at any hospital in any region as long as it is presented tactfully.

 

Being Daddy

 

One thing that has been extremely gratifying as an attending is the ability to spend more time with my kids. My kids were essentially born and raised while my wife and I were in residency, so they thought that their parents working 100+ hours a week (AKA being gone all the time) was normal. Now, my day is usually over by 5pm and I can be home by dinner. Not only that, but on my admin day, I’ve made it a point to try to drop the kids off at school at least once a week, and when I get off of work early, pick them up. These small things would have been impossible as a resident and fellow, but now that I can do these small things, I can really tell that it matters to the kids that daddy is around more. My next idea which I just put into action is once a month “daddy and son” and “daddy and daughter” dates, where we go out to the movies, for dinner, for ice cream, etc. Below are some shots I took with them right before I took my son out to a video game park and my daughter right before we went out to a local theatrical play. 

 

It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as its one on one time with the child. I will only be practicing orthopaedic surgery probably for the next 40 years, but pouring into my kids is an eternal endeavor. I have to constantly remind myself of this however, because it’s even easier as an attending to let your life become consumed by surgeries, clinic notes, committee meetings, research, etc, etc.