STS News, Winter 2022 — “Just gave it a listen. A+ job!” “What an inspiring story! Totally relatable to me.” “If you haven’t been listening, do it!”
Same Surgeon, Different Light—originally launched in October 2020—truly resonated with listeners, as suggested by this feedback from Season 1. The program focuses on demystifying cardiothoracic surgery and presenting the extraordinary backstories of cardiothoracic surgeons from a variety of backgrounds and in various career stages. So far, the podcast has had more than 16,000 downloads.
Hosts David Tom Cooke, MD, and Thomas K. Varghese Jr., MD, MS, are at it again, helping listeners get to know the guests—the obstacles, success stories, tradeoffs, and pivotal moments that have shaped their personal missions and careers.
Season 2 kicked off in December 2021 with cardiothoracic surgery superstar Valerie W. Rusch, MD. Additional guests include Joseph A. Dearani, MD, Susan D. Moffatt-Bruce, MD, PhD, MBA, Jacques Kpodonu, MD, Gail E. Darling, MD, Edward P. Chen, MD, Jennifer C. Romano, MD, MS, Allan Pickens, MD, and many more.
Listeners will discover fascinating personal details, like why Dr. Kpodonu considers himself an “international gentleman.” He was born in Paris, France—his mom’s home city, but at 8 years old, moved to his dad’s country of Ghana. Throughout his childhood years, the family moved back and forth between the two countries several times. In Ghana, Dr. Kpodonu’s dad served as the country’s first cardiologist, and today, at 84 years old, he is still practicing.
Dr. Rusch shares that powerful lessons from her mom about being a strong woman and a summer job as a surgical scrub tech are what sparked her interest in medicine. While she understood that it wouldn’t be an easy path, she never allowed obstructions to hold her back and went on to become one of the most respected general thoracic surgeons of all time.
These are the types of inspirational stories and experiences that are shared during the Same Surgeon, Different Light episodes.
New episodes will be added regularly. Subscribe to Surgical Hot Topics via your favorite podcast app, or find the episodes at sts.org/podcast. Social media postings about the series include the hashtag #TheFaceofCTSurgery.