In May, InterSurgeon had the pleasure of talking to new member Dr. Amanda Saratsis. We discussed creating an offer on InterSurgeon and why now is the time to start a global surgery journey.
Training – introducing global surgery
Since training as a paediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Saratsis has wanted to engage in global surgery; “One of the biggest inspirations was my mentor who trained me in pediatric neurosurgery. His name is Tadanori Tomita. He is originally from Japan, and is widely respected by the international pediatric neurosurgery community. At one point he was the president of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery, which is one of the highest honors in our discipline. He frequently travelled to learn from and teach neurosurgeons all over the world. He also established an international visiting fellowship at our institution here in Chicago (Ann & Robert H. Lurie Childrens’ Hospital of Chicago, formerly Children’s Memorial Hospital). He [Dr Tomita] would host an international fellow almost every year, with trainees coming from all over the world. I remember there was one on our team my first year as an attending, who previously served in Croatia during wartime. I personally learned a lot from him, given his experience. I remember once he looked at a CT scan of the brain and said ‘oh it’s shrapnel’. And I said, ‘no, that’s actually calcification. That’s a tumour.’ We just had such different perspectives because of what we had seen in our practices. And then just travelling to different countries for meetings with the ISPN, and my mentor and other colleagues going different places to do surgical cases -hearing this experience just really piqued my interest.”
Now qualified as a consultant, Dr Saratsis is finding time to pursue that passion:“It’s what I have always wanted to do. While in training and then being a new attending, then having little kids, the opportunity never really presented itself. My situation is different now, and I have more clinical experience, so I would love to be able to go somewhere to learn new things and do good work.”
Creating an offer on InterSurgeon
Ready to share her skills, Dr Saratsis joined InterSurgeon and made an offer; “I heard about [InterSurgeon] through my organized neurosurgery community a few years ago now. It had been presented in one of our executive committee meetings as a new resource that we could potentially engage with. I thought this might be a good time to finally sign up and just see kind of what opportunities might exist. I finally now have some flexibility with my work schedule and the ability to potentially go somewhere or learn from someone else, and share my skills too.”
Dr Saratsis has received a few potential matches and is busy reading through them; “There seems like there are some good opportunities. I think an organization or mission would be wonderful. I have a lot of colleagues in neurosurgery who do engage in international projects and they just love it, it’s been such a positive experience for everyone involved. So that would be fantastic. I would love to find a match like that.”
Final Thoughts…
Finally Dr Saratsis says; “ [InterSurgeon] is such a great resource. There’s so many different specialties and places that you can go and do work. I really found it very easy to use and apply to. I’m hopeful that there will be a good match that can lead to lasting relationships and patient care.”
If you would like to contact Dr Saratsis via her profile, click here.
For more offers and requests, click here.
