Though being young for a surgeon, Dr. Heffernan has accomplished a great deal in his career thus far, in particular with his use of the Da Vinci, making him the perfect subject. As the robotic system became prominent in surgery right after Dr. Heffernan’s medical education completion, he’s become one of the most familiar with the tool, and has performed countless surgeries using it. He stressed to me how much easier and better the robot is for surgeries, especially those common in gynecologic oncology (hysterectomies, lymph node dissections, etc.). Dr. Heffernan explained that a procedure that would usually take an hour and a half using laparoscopic methods takes him only 15 minutes via the Da Vinci, an insane improvement. This only further intrigues my interests in the robotic surgical system, given that it is so beneficial and much more efficient; it is an intuitive and ingenious improvement on traditional surgery, something I find incredibly appealing.
One thing that stuck with me was Dr. Heffernan’s description of why he likes surgery. He explained it as a series of 50 problems you have to solve, meaning that you don’t get bored, it’s exciting and different. I’m the type of person who gets extremely bored doing the same thing over and over again. I like variety, and concentrating on one thing in particular at a time isn’t quite my speed. So when Dr. Heffernan told me this, it made me all the more interested in robotic surgery! Overall, the interview was extremely successful and worthwhile.
