#25 Colorectal Surgeon Interview - Lifestyle, Difficult Cases, and Career Progression

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

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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
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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.

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