Editor’s note: The Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons is launching a new series of articles profiling leaders of the College. This feature will be published monthly. The questions are intended to give readers a look at the person behind the surgical mask and to inspire other members of the College to consider taking on leadership positions within the organization and the institutions where they practice.
For this first profile in American College of Surgeons (ACS) leadership, we interviewed L. Scott Levin, MD, FACS, Chair, ACS Board of Regents. He is chair, department of orthopaedic surgery; Paul B. Magnuson Professor of Bone and Joint Surgery; and professor of surgery (plastic surgery), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Why did you decide to become a surgeon?
My mother grew up in a household where her father was an otolaryngologist in Philadelphia, and he wrote a book titled The Human Voice, which I read as a resident in plastic surgery. He died in his 50s before I was born. He served in World War I, caring for critical injuries in France, and was awarded the French Medal of Honor, and I actually have his medals in my study. My grandmother spoke very fondly of him, so I guess you could say this was kind of my first “imprinting.”
His son, my uncle, became a urologist. He was the physician in the family when I was growing up. And then I thought, well, I’d be interested in a career in medicine. Even though I never knew my grandfather, what the family told me about him was really interesting, so I decided to apply to medical school and got in, and so now here I am 43 years later.
Then I went to college and worked in the emergency room as an orderly, wheeling patients around and mopping floors. I was a premedical student at Duke University (Durham, NC), and I observed both the medical and surgical side of the emergency room. And watching the surgeons was just so fascinating. I’d watch them suture up patients, crack chests, and resuscitate people, so that was another template for me.
So that’s why I became a surgeon—because I had very positive role models: my grandfather, who I didn’t know; an uncle who I did know and was in private practice; and all these amazing surgeons that I saw as an undergraduate student at Duke University, including William C. Sealey, MD, FACS, and W. Glenn Young, MD, FACS. A lot of these role models were cardiothoracic surgeons who are now deceased, but I can name them like I can name my children. They were a tremendous influence on me.
When I got to Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia, I had an open mind with regard to which field of medicine I would pursue. As an undergraduate, I was able to observe microvascular surgery and hand surgery while working my way through college as an orderly. I ultimately decided that I wanted to become a microvascular surgeon and hand surgeon. I thoroughly enjoyed my surgical rotations in medical school and subsequently applied for an orthopaedic residency. This included two years of general and thoracic surgery, as well as four years of orthopaedics at Duke University Medical Center. Following orthopaedic training, I completed a second residency in plastic surgery, also at Duke University School of Medicine.
Who are some of your mentors and role models in surgical leadership?
The person who had the greatest influence on me and countless others was ACS Past-President David C. Sabiston, Jr., MD, FACS. He was the President of the College when I joined his department as an intern in 1982. Dr. Sabiston had the highest standards of patient care. He himself was a surgeon-scientist, and he emphasized that “attention to detail is important.” We would leave no stone unturned with respect to excellence in patient care. The patient always came first. I’ll never forget the day I started my internship, and he mentioned the great physician William Osler, who said, “The key to success is summarized in two words: hard work.”
As part of my training in orthopaedics, I was required to do two years of general and thoracic surgery (1982–1984) as a prerequisite to orthopedic training (1984–1988), and was working at that time with people who, if you were to fast-forward, would wind up among the who’s who in American surgery. For example, people like Ron Weigel, MD, PhD, MBA, FACS, Chair, ACS Board of Governors, and I were residents together. (Dr. Weigel is E.A. Crowell Jr. Professor and Chair of Surgery; professor of surgery, surgical oncology and endocrine surgery; and professor of biochemistry, anatomy and cell biology, and molecular physiology and biophysics, University of Iowa, Iowa City.)
