#25 Colorectal Surgeon Interview - Lifestyle, Difficult Cases, and Career Progression
11/06/23 • 51 min
Dr. Isenberg is a professor of surgery at SKMC and the vice chair of surgical education here at Jefferson as well. He is specialized in colorectal surgery. He went to medical school at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, trained in surgery at Lenox hill hospital, and completed is colorectal surgery fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University. He is the editor-in-chief for ACS case reviews in surgery, the immediate past president of the TJUH medical staff, the immediate past chair of Colorectal RC of ACGME and the past VP of ASCRS. He is a widely loved teacher and leader here at Jefferson. I personally had an amazing experience working as a medical student in his team here at Jefferson and because of how amazing an experience I had, I came very close to picking surgery as opposed to internal medicine. He has won multiple teaching awards, including Dean’s career educator award in 2020.
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0:00 - Intro
1:07 - Statistics About Colorectal Surgery
1:39 - What Is Colorectal Surgery?
2:32 - Why Colorectal Surgery?
5:53 - Choosing Surgery During Med School
7:29 - What Was General Surgery Residency Like?
8:26 - Going Into Colorectal Surgery
9:49 - What Is It Like Being an Attending?
12:08 - An Average Week of a Colorectal Surgeon
13:42 - Being In Academia
15:20 - If I Give You $100 Million, What Would You Do?
18:25 - Making Curricular Changes in Skmc
21:47 - Best Thing About Colorectal Surgery
23:47 - Worst Thing About Colorectal Surgery
24:45 - What Makes the Best-Med Students/Residents/Fellows?
27:12 - Advice to Students Doubting About Surgery
28:39 - Maximizing Competitiveness Going Into Surgery
30:00 - Changes in Colorectal Surgery Over the Years
32:17 - Future of Colorectal Surgery
33:19 - Dealing With Burnout and Keeping a Good Lifestyle
38:25 - Clinic vs Operating Room
39:26 - Advice to New Attendings
39:47 - Advice to People Entering a Career in Medicine
42:02 - Any Mistakes That You Made Throughout Your Career/Life?
44:27 - Book Recommendations
48:55 - What Advice Would You Give Your 18-Year-Old Self?
49:34 - Closing Message
54:39 - Very Important Question!
55:00 - Outro
__
Resources
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield: https://a.co/d/biHgWmw
The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams: https://a.co/d/eSZdL0i
When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner: https://a.co/d/em0VH6I
___
View the Show Notes Page for This Episode for a transcript and more information: zhighley.com/podcast
___
Connect With Zach
Main YouTube: @ZachHighley
Newsletter: https://zhighley.com/newsletter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachhighley/?hl=en
Website: https://zhighley.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zachhighley
Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-highley-gergel-44763766/
Business Inquiries: [email protected]
___
Listen for Free
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/23TvJdEBAJuW5WY1QHEc6A?si=cf65ae0abbaf46a4
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-zach-highley-show/id1666374777
___
Welcome to the Zach Highley Show, where we discuss personal growth and medicine to figure out how to improve our lives. My name is Zach a Resident Physician in Boston. Throughout these episodes, I’ll interview top performers from around the world in business, life, and medicine in hopes of extracting the resources and techniques they use to get to the top.
The best way to help the show is to share episodes on any platform. If you think a friend or family member will like a certain episode, send it to them!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Dr. Isenberg is a professor of surgery at SKMC and the vice chair of surgical education here at Jefferson as well. He is specialized in colorectal surgery. He went to medical school at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, trained in surgery at Lenox hill hospital, and completed is colorectal surgery fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University. He is the editor-in-chief for ACS case reviews in surgery, the immediate past president of the TJUH medical staff, the immediate past chair of Colorectal RC of ACGME and the past VP of ASCRS. He is a widely loved teacher and leader here at Jefferson. I personally had an amazing experience working as a medical student in his team here at Jefferson and because of how amazing an experience I had, I came very close to picking surgery as opposed to internal medicine. He has won multiple teaching awards, including Dean’s career educator award in 2020.
___
0:00 - Intro
1:07 - Statistics About Colorectal Surgery
1:39 - What Is Colorectal Surgery?
2:32 - Why Colorectal Surgery?
5:53 - Choosing Surgery During Med School
7:29 - What Was General Surgery Residency Like?
8:26 - Going Into Colorectal Surgery
9:49 - What Is It Like Being an Attending?
12:08 - An Average Week of a Colorectal Surgeon
13:42 - Being In Academia
15:20 - If I Give You $100 Million, What Would You Do?
18:25 - Making Curricular Changes in Skmc
21:47 - Best Thing About Colorectal Surgery
23:47 - Worst Thing About Colorectal Surgery
24:45 - What Makes the Best-Med Students/Residents/Fellows?
27:12 - Advice to Students Doubting About Surgery
28:39 - Maximizing Competitiveness Going Into Surgery
30:00 - Changes in Colorectal Surgery Over the Years
32:17 - Future of Colorectal Surgery
33:19 - Dealing With Burnout and Keeping a Good Lifestyle
38:25 - Clinic vs Operating Room
39:26 - Advice to New Attendings
39:47 - Advice to People Entering a Career in Medicine
42:02 - Any Mistakes That You Made Throughout Your Career/Life?
44:27 - Book Recommendations
48:55 - What Advice Would You Give Your 18-Year-Old Self?
49:34 - Closing Message
54:39 - Very Important Question!
55:00 - Outro
__
Resources
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield: https://a.co/d/biHgWmw
The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Abrams: https://a.co/d/eSZdL0i
When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner: https://a.co/d/em0VH6I
___
View the Show Notes Page for This Episode for a transcript and more information: zhighley.com/podcast
___
Connect With Zach
Main YouTube: @ZachHighley
Newsletter: https://zhighley.com/newsletter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachhighley/?hl=en
Website: https://zhighley.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zachhighley
Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-highley-gergel-44763766/
Business Inquiries: [email protected]
___
Listen for Free
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/23TvJdEBAJuW5WY1QHEc6A?si=cf65ae0abbaf46a4
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-zach-highley-show/id1666374777
___
Welcome to the Zach Highley Show, where we discuss personal growth and medicine to figure out how to improve our lives. My name is Zach a Resident Physician in Boston. Throughout these episodes, I’ll interview top performers from around the world in business, life, and medicine in hopes of extracting the resources and techniques they use to get to the top.
The best way to help the show is to share episodes on any platform. If you think a friend or family member will like a certain episode, send it to them!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Previous Episode
#24 Dermatology Resident Interview - Lifestyle, Competition, and Lifestyle (again)
Alex Valiga is the current chief resident physician in the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology here at Thomas Jefferson University. He grew up outside of Philadelphia in North Wales, Pennsylvania and attended nearby Drexel University where he earned a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering. It was during this time that Dr. Valiga developed his passion for cutaneous oncology by spending several years conducting basic science research at the world-renowned Wistar Institute. Given his achievements in academics and research, Dr. Valiga was elected to national honors societies for engineering (Tau Beta Pi) and biomedical engineering (Alpha Eta Mu Beta). After completing his undergraduate studies, Dr. Valiga then continued on to Drexel University College of Medicine. During this time he was honored to be elected co-president of his medical school class for four consecutive years and received the Joel Roslyn Award, an honor reserved for a single member of the graduating class in recognition of outstanding leadership while demonstrating a notable level of commitment and service to his fellow classmates. After graduation, Dr. Valiga then completed an internship in internal medicine at Lankenau Medical Center and is now halfway through his final year of dermatology residency at Thomas Jefferson where he is also serving as Chief Resident. With his academic interests in cutaneous oncology, Dr. Valiga will continue his training with a fellowship in micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology after which he hopes to continue his career in academic medicine.
___
0:00 - Intro
1:18 - Statistics About Dermatology
4:14 - What Is Dermatology?
6:36 - Journey Into Dermatology
12:56 - 1st and 2nd Years of Dermatology Residency
17:55 - Monkeypox Case
22:49 - 3rd Year and Overall Residency Experience
32:11 - An Average Week of a Dermatology Resident
36:28 - Types of Fellowships
37:36 - What Fellowship Did You Pick and Why?
42:18 - Future of Your Career
43:56 - Dealing With Burnout and Keeping a Good Lifestyle
50:52 - Maximizing Competitiveness Going Into Derm Residency
59:25 - Best Thing About Being a Dermatologist
1:00:20 - Worst Thing About Being a Dermatologist
1:03:24 - If I Give You $100 Million, What Would You Do?
1:08:22 - Future of Dermatology
1:10:09 - Advice to People Entering Medicine
1:12:10 - Book Recommendations
1:15:32 - What Advice Would You Give Your 18-Year-Old Self?
1:18:53 - Closing Message for People Looking Into Dermatology
1:20:03 - What Makes the Best Dermatology Resident?
1:21:17 - Closing Message
1:24:41 - Outro
__
Resources
I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi: https://a.co/d/1jQA8D8
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell: https://a.co/d/hOnFtG8
Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl: https://a.co/d/dHP8ebQ
___
View the Show Notes Page for This Episode for a transcript and more information: zhighley.com/podcast
___
Connect With Zach
Main YouTube: @ZachHighley
Newsletter: https://zhighley.com/newsletter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachhighley/?hl=en
Website: https://zhighley.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zachhighley
Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-highley-gergel-44763766/
Business Inquiries: [email protected]
___
Listen for Free
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/23TvJdEBAJuW5WY1QHEc6A?si=cf65ae0abbaf46a4
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-zach-highley-show/id1666374777
___
Welcome to the Zach Highley Show, where we discuss personal growth and medicine to figure out how to improve our lives. My name is Zach a Resident Physician in Boston. Throughout these episodes, I’ll interview top performers from around the world in business, life, and medicine in hopes of extracting the resources and techniques they use to get to the top.
The best way to help the show is to share episodes on any platform. If you think a friend or family member will like a certain episode, send it to them!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Next Episode
#26 Internal Medicine Resident Interview - Lifestyle, Extracurriculars, and Finding Your Voice
Gillian is from the larger Philadelphia area and initially studied Philosophy and Psychology at the University of Scranton and worked in social services as a Case Manager after college. She then transitioned to Vaccine Development NIH-funded research as a clinical coordinator at the University of Vermont while taking pre-med classes. She attended medical school at Penn State College of Medicine, where she also earned her Masters in Education and was recognized with the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award and the Gold Humanism Honor Society. During medical school, she also held multiple statewide and national positions such as Chair for the Committee on Bioethics & Humanities for the American Medical Association-Medical Student Section, Board of Trustee for the Pennsylvania Medical Society, State Director on the Pennsylvania Political Action Committee Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Medical Society. She was served as an Editorial Fellow with the AMA Journal of Ethics in 2019. She matched at TJUH in Internal Medicine where she was recognized with multiple teaching awards including Hobart Amory Hare Resident Teaching Award, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and teaching award, and the Darilyn Moyer, MD, FACP Professionalism Award for Trainees in Southeastern PA. She is interested in a career in academic hospital medicine and medical education crafting curriculum that incorporates health system science and humanism topics in medicine.
___
0:00 - Intro
1:29 - Statistics About Internal Medicine
3:55 - What Is Internal Medicine?
7:25 - Why Internal Medicine?
15:18 - What Was IM Residency Like?
17:23 - Plans for Designing a Curriculum
19:22 - Shooting Incident at the Hospital
23:02 - Best Thing About Being an IM Doctor
26:09 - Worst Thing About Being an IM Doctor
27:14 - Work Intensity and an Average Day as a Resident
34:14 - The Best Year of Residency
35:19 - An Average Outpatient Day/Week
38:32 - If I Give You $100 Million, What Would You Do?
43:56 - Things You Wish You Knew Before Coming Into IM
45:33 - Characteristics of a Student Best for IM
50:00 - Advice for People Looking Into Internal Medicine
51:22 - Maximizing Competitiveness Going Into IM Residency
54:03 - Things Learned From Residency
56:53 - Common Mistakes
1:00:49 - Positive Qualities & Characteristics You Admire
1:03:05 - Closing Message
1:04:14 - Outro
__
Resources
___
View the Show Notes Page for This Episode for a transcript and more information: zhighley.com/podcast
___
Connect With Zach
Main YouTube: @ZachHighley
Newsletter: https://zhighley.com/newsletter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachhighley/?hl=en
Website: https://zhighley.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zachhighley
Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-highley-gergel-44763766/
Business Inquiries: [email protected]
___
Listen for Free
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/23TvJdEBAJuW5WY1QHEc6A?si=cf65ae0abbaf46a4
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-zach-highley-show/id1666374777
___
Welcome to the Zach Highley Show, where we discuss personal growth and medicine to figure out how to improve our lives. My name is Zach a Resident Physician in Boston. Throughout these episodes, I’ll interview top performers from around the world in business, life, and medicine in hopes of extracting the resources and techniques they use to get to the top.
The best way to help the show is to share episodes on any platform. If you think a friend or family member will like a certain episode, send it to them!
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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