Tag Archives: tourism

Back in the OR with Dr. Buitrago, and a visit with Dr. Andres Franco

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National Cancer Institute –

Dont judge a hospital by the exterior sign..

The view from the fifth floor is less than inspiring – with the Bogota prison from one angle and the now decrepid Hospital San Juan de Dios from another..

The view from the operating room window, the now defunct Hospital San Juan de Dios

But the view from within the operating room is impressive!  Large operating rooms, in an all new facility, with brand new equipment.. This is a first class surgery facility..

 – and the surgery itself was wonderful.  I can’t divulge too many specifics other than it was a huge surgical resection that was the last chance for a heart-breaking patient..

Dr. Buitrago, Thoracic surgeon

 But the case went beautifully.

After spending all morning and part of the afternoon with Dr. Buitrago and his team – I went over to Hospital Santa Clara to interview a nice young thoracic surgeon, Dr. Jaime Andres Franco.  Dr. Franco is actually dually trained as both an Critical Care Medicine specialist and a thoracic surgeon – which is ideal because it means he is even more capable of handling any sort of crisis that may affect his surgical patients. 

I’m hoping to follow him to the operating room soon, so I can give you even more details..

 

Dr. Jose Andres Jimenez & Dr. Hernando Russi Campos

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San Ignacio,

Interviewed a pair of thoracic surgeons this morning, the esteemed Dr. Hernando Russi Campos, the senior thoracic surgeon and Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Hospital San Ignacio and Dr. Jose Andres Jimenez Quijano, his junior counterpart.

Planning on following Dr. Jimenez into the operating room soon – so I’ll report back.

In Medellin

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In Medellin this weekend, meeting with Adriaan Alsema, the editor-in-chief of Colombia Reports, the largest English-language news website for Colombia. He’s published a couple of my articles in the past, so when I had a chance to meet him in person, I jumped at it.

He’s an interesting guy, a Dutch ex-pat who has been here in Medellin for the last three years – keeping the english speaking world up to date on all the news and happenings in Colombia. He’s a blunt, forthright, sophisticated journalist who doesn’t sugar-coat anything for anyone. (So, naturally, we got on famously.)

As much as I’m enjoying Medellin (hope to be back for book three), I will be glad to return to Bogota tomorrow and get back to work!

Writing, writing, writing

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Spending the day (and much of the weekend) writing, transcribing notes from recent interviews, and working on an upcoming article. The article is a bit of a departure from my previous work, being a bit more light-hearted, and less academic than my previous writing. Hopefully, this will give it a broader appeal.   It’s also a nice way to call attention to some of the newer technologies, and techniques I’ve seen, and share a bit of the spotlight with the people doing all the hard work. (These guys don’t blow their own horns much – even when it’s well-deserved.) 

I have a few more interviews to conduct next week before I can finish it.. I am enjoying the change of style, but I will be happy to revert back to my usual writing.

Hoping to catch up with some more orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons, and just a few more thoracic surgeons in the next few weeks..(see my ‘Chasing Thoracics’ blog for more information).

Looks like the book cover is pretty much done – you can see it under the ‘book’ tab.  I find that completing the artwork helps keep me focused on the book, especially once I’ve past the mid-point..

Dr. Santos, Clinica Shaio

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Dr. Hernando Santos, cardiac surgeon at Shaio

Spent the morning with Dr. Hernando Santos, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Clinica Shaio for aortic valve replacement.

Got some great intra-operative photos (with patient’s permission, of course!) but I’ll spare the squeamish.