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t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 5 12 Recreating ears that really look like ears is something that I think about routinely, to see how I can improve and perfect this technique. And what drives me to get better is the desire I have seen in my patients, children wanting to be as normal as possible. There is a picture that I keep in my office, and it's one that I think about a lot. It's an incredibly thoughtful picture by one of my 8-year- old patients that she drew of her face. It's a cartoon-like drawing that shows the face of a smiling child but also shows that she has one normal-appear- ing ear and one ear that is much smaller and different than the other. Q | Can you speak a bit more about the clinic that you mentioned earlier? A | The clinic is called Casa El Buen Samaritano. I am one of the founding members and am on the board. It is a clinic that was developed through a church partnership. It's a 501c3 not- for-profit organization with a mission of providing health care and spiritual enrichment. Casa El Buen Samaritano provides free health care services to those in need. The clinic has been in existence for almost five years and is open two to three days a week. It's important for me to recognize that there are groups of individuals that are living within the shadows of the medical cen- ter that do not have access to care. This clinic creates an opportunity to provide this access and care for our community. All of our providers are volunteers and many of them are clinicians who work within the Texas Medical Center. Q | Can you tell us about your trip to Rwanda? A | My upcoming mission to Rwanda is organized by a foundation I am part of called Face the Future. Face the Future is a Canadian-based organization with a mission of building capacity and providing care to patients around the world. In this mission, we have devel- oped a team of surgeons from Baylor, Johns Hopkins and University of Toronto. While in Rwanda, we will be working with plastic surgeons and head neck surgeons at their major teaching hospital in Kigali. The goal of this mis- sion will be focused on providing care for patients with reconstructive needs. Several of the patients we will see and treat are survivors of the genocide who have traumatic facial injuries. We will also see other pathology such as congenital abnormalities like cleft lips and palates and patients, with head and neck tumors. So what we do in Rwanda, and all of the other missions that we participate in, is we partner with the ministry of health, we partner with the hospitals within the region, and we partner with their training program. The focus is always two-fold: providing care and building capacity. Q | Have you had any mentors throughout your life? A | Absolutely. You can't get to this point without having the support of others. And I have had the support of so many people, every step of the way. I have been blessed with both personal and professional mentors in my life. I met my first true professional and career mentor in college. Her name is Cathy McDonald. Cathy taught me the value of persistence and perseverance. She was someone who really believed in my abilities and encouraged me to pursue them. In terms of career guidance, there is a mentor that I met in medical school; his name is Dr. Jack Clark. He intro- duced me to the specialty of otolar- yngology/head and neck surgery. He also identified Mayo Clinic as a place he thought I should be trained. Dr. Clark's guidance allowed me to pursue my specialty within an institution of excellence. Last, but certainly not least, is my wife, whom I've known since ado- lescence and has shown incredible wisdom. If you can image knowing someone since you were 12 or 13 years old, and having their support through- out your entire educational and profes- sional career. It allows me to see how valuable that kind of friendship and mentorship can be. When I reflect upon the position I'm in or the person I have become, I can identify specific people or groups of people who have allowed me the opportunity to be here. So these are just a few of them. There are a variety of others that may have had just a small time in my life, but have had a signifi- cant impact. Q | What do you see as the benefit of having resources and experienced professionals in one place, as we do here in the Texas Medical Center? A | What the Texas Medical Center has to offer is a great depth of expertise, resources and collaboration. Practicing within the Texas Medical Center allows me to identify the specialties and spe- cialists that can best support the needs of my patients. What it signifies for me is a massive integrated group practice, with multiple institutions and special- ties that allow us to work together to provide the highest quality of care. We are blessed with the opportunity to care for some of the most complex patients and cases, and thus serve as a resource to our community—not just within the city, but also within the state and around the country. As a physician within the Texas Medical Center, I have access to a group of unique specialists that all have unique areas of expertise. And when one brings all of those components together, we are able to really provide something special for our patients. Q | Any closing thoughts? A | As a surgeon within an academic center, it's so important to emphasize the value of teaching and ongoing education. Undoubtedly, caring for patients is the most important aspect of what I do as a physician. However, at the same time, preparing and educating physicians to care for patients is cen- tral to the core of our mission and an important aspect of what we offer here within our section, within our college, and within the Texas Medical Center. Preparing and training our future gen- erations of physicians is very exciting for me. Seeing residents that I have trained or medical students that I have mentored make a difference and attain levels that I have not is an exciting and humbling experience. So what we do in Rwanda, and all of the other missions that we participate in, is we partner with the ministry of health, we partner with the hospitals within the region, and we partner with their training program. The focus is always two-fold: providing care and building capacity.