Saving Lifetimes with Dr. Mary Brandt

As the inevitable adrenaline begins to course through your body, you draw upon all your training and skill to channel it, allowing you to steady your hands and make split-second decisions. Throughout it all, you remain acutely aware that distraught parents have placed all of their hope and faith in you and your team to save the life of their precious child who lays on the operating table before you. Welcome to the rollercoaster world of heart-pounding risks and heartwarming victories that define the life of a pediatric surgeon.

Dr. Mary Brandt is not only a renowned pediatric surgeon but also a dedicated educator and recipient of numerous awards and honors for service, education, and humanism in medicine. She completed medical school and general surgery residency at Baylor, followed by a fellowship in pediatric surgery at the University of Montreal Sainte-Justine Hospital. Dr. Brandt returned to join the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine where she has a distinguished record of accomplishment, including service as Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs, Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education, and Program Director for General Surgery. Dr. Brandt has also served as Professor of Surgery with Tulane University School of Medicine, and has an outstanding record of service to the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Surgeons, American Board of Surgery, American Pediatric Surgery Association, and the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Today, Dr. Brandt discusses pediatric surgery, risk management, and medical training with Sandra and Sandy. Together, they explore emotional involvement in patient care, surgical preparation, and adrenaline challenges, and go on to draw parallels between astronauts and fighter pilots that reveal insights into adrenaline management and competency-driven training. Healthcare shifts, women in surgery, and Dr. Brandt's advice for aspiring medical professionals are included as well in today’s thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining conversation.

Episode Highlights:

• Dr. Brandt’s decision to specialize in pediatrics
• Pediatric surgery training over the years
• Managing pediatric surgical risks in real-time
• Balancing objectivity and emotional involvement with patients
• Preparing for unfamiliar surgeries
• The hardest part of performing surgery
• Explaining the surgical risks to the child’s parents
• Comparing risk management as a surgeon vs. an astronaut
• Managing adrenaline in the operating room
• Technology’s impact on operating room risk management
• The risks created through traditional surgical training
• Alternative training approaches
• The evolution of women’s involvement in surgery over the course of Mary’s career
• Her advice for those thinking of going into medicine

Quotes:

"When you're learning how to make a skin incision, that adrenaline is there."

"We're kind of the last general surgeons."

"You have to lower your shoulders and take three deep breaths and watch what happens."

"It's still an incredible profession."

"There is not another human being or any policy that can take away my ability to sit in a room with another human being and talk about what I need to do to help heal them."

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