喵咪社区

Dr. Sturdevant is a transplant surgeon with the 喵咪社区 Transplant Institute, part of 喵咪社区.

He specializes in adult and pediatric liver transplantation as well as complex hepatobiliary procedures. He treats patients at Keck Hospital of 喵咪社区 and 喵咪社区 Norris Cancer Hospital. Here鈥檚 what you won鈥檛 find on his resume.

His interest in biological sciences started at an early age.

鈥淲hen I was younger, I was fascinated by the biological sciences and imagined becoming an evolutionary biologist. Then, when I started college, I wanted to pursue a degree in physical therapy. As I learned about anatomy and physiology, however, my interest began to switch to medicine. Perhaps it was meant to be: my mom was a nurse, and medicine was always a part of my life.鈥�

He鈥檚 traveled the world, exploring and working.

鈥淚 traveled a lot to pursue specialized training and concentrated experience. I spent four years in Saudi Arabia doing high-volume pediatric and live-donor transplants. Some of my favorite places in the Middle East are Oman and Beirut. Both are beautiful, and the people there are so nice and hardworking.

About a decade ago, I took a sabbatical and spent months traveling through Paris, Seoul, Japan and Hong Kong. Eventually, I settled in for a three-month stay in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where a German surgeon had established a large program for live-donor transplants as well as one of the largest pediatric transplant centers in the world.

Japan is still one of my favorite places to visit, as well as Turkey and Istanbul. I feel fortunate to have been able to spend time in these different countries experiencing a bit of their day-to-day life.鈥�

His family brings him balance and joy.

鈥淕etting married for the first time at age 50 and becoming the father of a seven-year-old has been a big and wonderful life change. Before, my life revolved purely around work. Now, I have a family and am getting to learn about all the things a seven-year-old likes to do. It鈥檚 brought an important balance to my life. I believe getting the opportunity to play like a kid again is good for all of us as adults. My wife, Mahan, and I are expecting a baby boy in May. It鈥檚 about to get crazy, I guess.鈥�

Making a life-changing difference in patients鈥� lives is the most rewarding part of his job.

鈥淚 feel very lucky to be able to work in the transplant field. Sometimes when people first come here, you can tell they feel completely lost. They鈥檙e not sure what is happening with their liver disease or kidney disease, and the disease has caused them to lose a lot of control of their life. I鈥檓 able to meet them and tell them, 鈥業鈥檓 going to be your surgeon. Here鈥檚 your problem, here鈥檚 how we鈥檙e going to solve it 鈥� and I鈥檓 going to be with you the whole time.鈥� It鈥檚 pretty amazing to see people start to relax once they hear that. Knowing they鈥檙e with somebody who is going to take them all the way to the finish line and beyond gives them back the confidence that life is not over. That鈥檚 by far the best aspect of my job.鈥�

The transplant breakthrough he鈥檇 most like to see in his lifetime isn鈥檛 necessarily a fancy drug, technology or procedure.

鈥淭he breakthrough I鈥檇 like to see is more equitable access to top-tier medical care for all patients in need of a transplant. An organ transplant should be as accessible to someone making $25,000 a year as it is to a multimillionaire.

The other thing I would really like to see is more accessibility of organs. Fortunately, advances in technologies like machine perfusion are expanding the number of organs we can now use, allowing us to do a lot more transplants. It will also be interesting to see what develops in the next 15 years with xenotransplantation. Are we one day going to reach a point where we鈥檙e able to make organs in a lab for people as they need them? I think all transplant physicians would love to see this because it would markedly increase our ability to help patients survive organ failure.鈥�

One of his favorite books explores how people overcome challenges.

鈥淥ne book I really like is called 鈥楾he Obstacle Is the Way鈥� by Ryan Holiday. It explores a branch of ancient philosophy called Stoicism. The idea behind stoicism is that while problems do happen, what matters more is how you react to a problem. The author shares historic examples of people who faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles which they tackled through their own resolve, leading to many major breakthroughs in all fields of life. I draw on this philosophy whenever I鈥檓 faced with an obstacle. You don鈥檛 sit around complaining about an obstacle or trying to deny it; you work on figuring out ways around it, or how to do things better, to ultimately come out on the other side.鈥�

The advice he鈥檇 give to medical students interested in transplant surgery:

鈥淭ransplant surgery is a great field for someone who enjoys using both their brain and their hands to solve problems. It not only requires technical expertise in surgery; it鈥檚 also a very cerebral field because we remain involved with a patient鈥檚 case from beginning to end.

Unlike some specialties where surgeons might not be very involved with managing a patient鈥檚 disease prior to their operation, in transplant surgery we鈥檙e constantly working to figure out how to manage a patient鈥檚 disease process both before and after their operation. Even after a patient鈥檚 transplant takes place, we are still managing the patient from an immunologic standpoint, manipulating the immune system and trying to make sure the body doesn鈥檛 reject the transplanted organ.

Medical students should expect to be constantly engaged in their patients鈥� cases postoperatively. We care so much about patients doing well after their surgeries. There鈥檚 a saying in our field that once a transplant patient becomes your patient, they鈥檙e pretty much your patient for life. For medical students who want to develop deep, long-lasting relationships with their patients, it鈥檚 a great field to be in.鈥�

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