Home: Palo Alto, CA; Detroit, MI. Profession: Gastroenterologist, educator, researcher, mentor. Organization: John D. Dingell VA Medical Center / EBMed. Title: Chief (Emeritus) and research scientist / Chairman. Significant other: Linda Nguyen, MD. Alma mater: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Current project: Expanding EBMed. Recent professional development: Started Evidence-Based GI: An ACG Publication, an online magazine. Significant accomplishment: My team published original research about the efficacy of colonoscopy for colon cancer screening in The New England Journal of Medicine. What’s been your big (or biggest leap)? Applying for a Navy Health Professions Scholarship to pay for medical school. Recently viewed and recommended: The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix.
What one word would your closest friend use to describe you? Coach. Moral compass: What is best for my patients? How do you define an ideal business relationship? Trust, respect, and open communication. What is your greatest joy? My amazing wife, daughter and my stepsons. What is your guilty pleasure? Chocolate chip ice cream. What occupation, other than your own, do you most admire? Teachers. What is your go-to workout? Weightlifting with dumbbells and aerobic exercise with an old-fashioned Stairmaster.
What was your first paying job? Working the chicken fryer at a KFC. What was your favorite college course? Physical Anthropology. What’s prominently featured on your home or office wall? Pictures of my family. Besides your parents, who has had the greatest influence on your life? My mentors in academic gastroenterology. What is your go-to source of news and information? The New York Times.
What change are you working on to effect in your profession or field?
Improving the application of evidence-based medicine tools to medical care.
What mega-trend most excites you? Application of artificial intelligence to medical care. What mega-trend most concerns you? Just the same.
As a kid, what did you first want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a doctor from a very early age. After your loved ones, what object would you first save from your burning home? Photo albums of my family and my wedding. What advice would you give your younger self? Be kind to others. Don’t be too self-absorbed. What period in your life would you do differently, if you could? College.
Personal mission: Helping physicians apply “evidence” and clinical research to improve patient outcomes and mentor gastroenterology trainees. Favorite quote: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results” (Albert Einstein).
