Exceptional Care and Outcomes Rest on Mentorship

In the late 1800s, William Stewart Halsted, a gifted surgeon and one of four founding professors at Johns Hopkins University, developed the "see one, do one, teach one" method to train students in the university's surgical residency program – visualize, perform and demonstrate.

I attended medical school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, then completed a surgical residency in orthopedics and sports medicine followed by a combined orthopedic and neurosurgical fellowship in complex and minimally invasive spine surgery. It's my belief that mentorship is mandatory in medicine: The only way medical practice can advance is if one generation teaches another.

Mentorship is a calling and something I'm passionate about. I would never be where I am without mentors as early as elementary school and continuing through med school, residency, private practice and finally here at EvergreenHealth. People didn't wait for me to ask for help; they just grabbed me and said, "I'm going to help you." I'll never forget that.

This is a busy society where we're engrossed in what is better for us as individuals. EvergreenHealth is different. The culture here isn't a "me" culture. It's a culture of, I work on behalf of our community; I'm not just in it for me. Surgeons, anesthesiologists, medical specialists, physical therapists, nurses, support staff and executives share that value at EvergreenHealth.

Our organizational culture creates an environment in which people want to mentor better. Much of that takes place organically, of course. And here's an example of formalized clinical mentorship: each time we hire a new surgeon, we assign a mentor, a senior partner who will do every surgery with a younger partner until it's no longer necessary.

Active mentorship is better for staff, better for our surgeon partners and, most importantly, better for our patients and community. Plus, it's such a joy to watch people further develop their skills.