OT: UM spine surgeon climbs the 7 summits
Interesting story about U of M orthopaedic surgeon Rock Patel, who just completed climbing the 7 summits, or the highest peaks on each of the 7 continents.
https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/u-m-spine-surgeon-soon-to-complete-the-7-summits-or-tallest-mountain-peaks-on-each-continent
Interesting. Years back there was an Ortho guy at UM who'd fly all over the world for something less strenuous: Chasing solar eclipses.
I was going to do this but airfare was too expensive.
It's even more impressive because he bagged all seven peaks with his hands tucked in his armpits! (Because, you know, he's a surgeon. Don't want to put the moneymakers at risk by exposing them to the elements or smashing them into a rockface while swinging an ice ax.)
I heard he hurt his hands and then started studying the mystic arts...
Strange, I'd heard similar.
Yay for him and obviously it's his money, but the waste of resources to accomplish that is truly disgusting.
Then, I guess “It takes all kinds to make a world” applies to both of you
What would you like him to do with his resources besides, you know, providing life changing/saving surgery?
August 3rd, 2022 at 11:17 PM ^
shut up Meg
So you would rather tax him to hell and redistribute his hard earned income.
Dr Patel did my lower spine and my cervical spine surgery. Never knew that mountain climbing was his thing.
Go Blue
That's a heck of an accomplishment. Interestingly, the first Indian American to complete the Seven Summits (this guy) is also a U of M grad.
Super cool in all the ways. I wonder which calendar window he chose for Mt. Vinson—brrrrrrrrrrr!!!
One for each cervical bone.
OK. I've been biting my lip. I'm in the ortho/spine business and met Rock several years ago. Overall, I think he was fine, but he was borderline "not nice" (and that is a nice way to say it).
My co-founder who has been in 6000 surgeries says (sarcastically) that surgeons, in particular, take a special class during their residency or fellowship on how to be an asshole. Rock Patel definitely took this class.
EDIT: I would like to add that, despite his "strong" personality, he is a top notch surgeon. Anyone getting spine surgery through him is definitely in good hands.
A veteran nurse once told me something similar, except she called the class "How to be an Arrogant Prick." It was an elective, not a requirement, and it wasn't limited to surgeons.
Yep. Its just for surgeons, not general Drs. I find myself that I can go toe-to-toe with non-surgeon Drs on knowledge and whatnot which lowers the asshole factor. I can't keep up with all the stuff that a surgeon needs to know.
Related to the God complex? I think if I was cutting people open and working on parts needed to live or move or see, I would need to think pretty highly of myself. I've also thought that about some elite athletes, like Michael Jordan (my favorite athlete of all time). People have held him to normal people standards but he's just not normal. Not saying he should get away with murder but I also think it must weigh mighty heavily on a person to be that great.
Perhaps. But I've met some pretty prolific surgeons who have done surgery on pro athletes. It's a mixed bag. I met the surgeon who screwed-up Peyton Manning's surgery and then the surgeon who fixed it. Both surgeons were extremely nice, down-to-earth and any criticism offered was constructive and helpful.
Wife has been a nurse for 25+ years and spent a lot of time in med-surg. She agrees that surgeons tend to be arrogant pricks.
My wife used to ask me if arrogance was a class they taught at Michigan. I told her it was a pre-requisite to get in.
I don't know the gentleman but can relate to the premise.
I'm an MD/PhD student electing to forgo medicine for academia and one aspect of my decision is that I just can't see myself as part of the culture. There's a specific way in which of medicine expresses its social hierarchy, and I reject it.
Granted, most teams and social groups are stratified in some sense, but few groups exhibit as much stratification of *dignity* as medicine, and surgical specialties are likely the worst example. It was rare for me to scrub in during an operation without witnessing random moments of larynx-at-its-limit screaming from a surgeon towards a given nurse/tech/resident/anesthesiologist/med student "underling." And though I didn't see much yelling on the floor, the interactions weren't much healthier.
An added peculiarity that has been disappointing: I have often seen these "underlings" complain about their status and treatment as students and residents only to lean in to the eye-rolling behavior upon graduation to the resident and attending class, respectively. All cogs in a wheel; a self-aggrandizing, broken freaking wheel.
It's weird and it makes you really appreciate the people in toxic fields (like t-surg) that wind up halfway normal and functional psychologically.
I’d say for the most part, the surgeons that I work with have been great. We do a good job of sifting through the riff-raff to get good surgeons on our side.
With that, it’s an interesting dynamic in the medical field with Drs. I had a neighbor who tried to exert knowledge dominance in several situations because he was a Dr, but he was a chiropractor. Sure still a Dr, but he couldn’t even prescribe medication.
Pet peeve of mine - chiropractors are not doctors. I don't care if they put a "Dr" in front of their name or if the State of Michigan gives them the title either. They're not doctors.
I agree. I kinda find it strange that you call dentists Drs. But at least dentists can prescribe meds when needed.
Chiropractic seems like one of those 20:80 (or maybe 5:95) fields where whatever good reputation it has it based on a handful of people.
Good chiropractors seem like sports medicine docs, PTs, and Barre instructors rolled into one. For whatever reason the field attracts a few natural geniuses in those areas. AFAICS the rest are some degree of quack.
That’s a baller route to go (MD, PhD) and you’re pretty accurate about that hierarchical approach to clinical medicine. But… I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, research/academia is not terribly far off in many ways, particularly in regards to the hierarchical structure. There are a fair number of a-hole professors out there, I assume you’ve probably heard of a certain Martin Philbert? I destroyed that guy’s pathology class in grad school, missed one question in total over the three exams and he said he’d write me a letter of rec for med school, only to ghost me and ignore all my requests when the time came. Turns out, he was busy hooking up with a post doc and generally making everyone else’s life miserable.
You’re correct. He’s a great surgeon, not great to work with.
10+ comments so far and nothing about the fact that this climber's name is "Rock"?
No. His name is Rakesh
...or that he's an ortho with the name of Rock. Seems fitting for docs that use power tools.
He's actually just one giant caricature.
Strong like bull. Smart like rock.
Can bench press his board scores.
Definition of a double blinded study: Two orthopods reading an EKG.
I've heard them all.
In the accompanying video, he says that when he lived in NY and was 30 pounds heavier, people mistook him for Dwayne The Rock Johnson. So, yea, Rock.
That sounds like back-breaking work to do that. Real pain in the neck.
Sounds spine-tingling to me!
Dude flippantly compares not reaching a summit to effing up a spinal surgery.
Hey, some people screw up spreadsheets others surgeries.
Every time he reached a peak he said “This is Spinal Top”