Becoming A Spine Surgeon Essay

According to Heather Bresch, a prominent politician, “There is simply no substitute for hard work when it comes to achieving success” (BrainyQuote). I think that when you’re young, you don’t realize how hard it is to achieve the future occupations you hope for, like becoming an astronaut, a famous singer, or a veterinarian. Now that I have reached my current age, I am faced with this question: how will you become what you want to be? According to Spine Universe, “An orthopaedic spine surgeon is an orthopaedist who further specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of spinal diseases and conditions” (Spine Universe). The path to becoming a spinal surgeon includes several years of schooling and extremely hard work.

Lawrence Lenke, MD is “a spinal deformity surgeon with Columbia Doctors, and surgeon in chief of the spine hospital in New York-Presbyterian Allen” (Lenke). He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1982 with a degree in B.S., pre-professional studies. Majoring in a field relating to Biology is important in order to gain admission to medical school. Biology majors require a lot of hard work in order to graduate with high grades so they are able to get into medical school. According

to The Princeton Review, “It is extremely difficult to get into medical school with a cumulative GPA of less than 3.0.” (The Princeton Review). After attending Notre Dame, Dr. Lenke graduated from Northwestern University Medical School in 1986 with an M.D. It’s critical to work hard in medical school in order to get good grades. If you don’t get good grades in medical school, your resume won’t look appealing to possible job/internship openings. In 1987, Dr. Lenke had an internship at Washington University School of Medicine in General Surgery. This helped him to further his studies and build up a resume for a future job in the medical field. I hope that I am able to obtain an internship after medical school as well.

Following his internship, from 1987-1991, Dr. Lenke performed his residency at Washington University in Orthopaedic Surgery and during those same years he also performed a secondary residency at Shriner’s Hospital in Pediatric Orthopaedics. Dr. Lenke had two residencies during the same time period. As shown by all of this work, becoming a spinal surgeon requires a lot of hard work and time dedication. “I couldn’t pass up the Shriner’s opportunity, so I had no choice but to take on double-duty with two residencies at the same time”, Lenke explains. “But in retrospect, it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made as the breadth of experience I gained was tremendous” (Lenke). From 1991-1992, Dr. Lenke served as a faculty fellow at Washington University School of Medicine in Pediatric and Adult Spinal Surgery. What enabled Dr. Lenke to stand out among others was his ability to take on several responsibilities at the same time. In order to become a spinal surgeon, one must take every opportunity they can after medical school in order to improve their resume to be more likely to receive a steady job, even if it means having more than one residency/internship at the same time.

From 1992-2014, Dr. Lenke served as a valuable member of the spinal surgery team at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, as well as a faculty member at the Washington University School of Medicine, and also a developer of numerous revolutionary medical devices used in pediatric spine surgery. Dr. Lenke had always assumed that he would finish his career in St. Louis with the Washington University/BJC group; however, in 2015 he received an offer that would enable him to take his career and professional skills to the next level. Along with a couple of his professional colleagues in St. Louis, Dr. Lenke decided to move his practice to New York City where he accepted the position of Chief of Spinal Surgery at the New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital. ““I’m proud of the work I’ve done to get where I am today, and think that this is the best path I could’ve possibly taken. All the steps I took led me to where I am today,” (Lenke) Dr. Lenke stated. Dr. Lenke now has a highly visible international platform and reputation in the field of spine surgery that is unparalleled in the field. He continues to work on tremendously challenging cases, develop revolutionary techniques, and help design cutting edge devices used to change the lives of people (and specifically children) with drastic spinal deformities. Dr. Lenke and his family recently sold their home in St. Louis in completion of his transition to a life and career in New York City. The path that Dr. Lenke took to become a spine surgeon was the best path possible because if he hadn’t had all the experience he had, he wouldn’t be where he is today. He worked hard and took all opportunities possible in order to put himself in the position to become a spine surgeon. I hope to follow in his footsteps in order to become a spine surgeon someday.

In conclusion, becoming a spinal surgeon takes years of hard work, school, and several different less important job titles on your resume.

As shown by the efforts of Dr. Lenke, it takes even more than the seven years of college and medical school to get a real job as a spinal surgeon, and in his case it actually took 18 years. His hard work was shown through his ability to take on two residencies at the same time, and having several other job titles and working in other areas in order to get where he is today. In order to get the job that you want, you have to set goals for yourself and achieve those goals. Like Dr. Lenke, people need to be more motivated to get the things they want in life, so that the quality of their lives will be further

improved.