Surgery, Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery
Prior to medical school, I went to Tulane University and received a Master’s degree in Public Health. I then attended medical school at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Following medical school, I completed my internship and residency in General Surgery at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, serving as Chief Resident in 2012. This time included a research fellowship through Harvard and Brown Universities. I completed training in Cardiothoracic Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland, Ohio, serving as Chief Resident in 2015. I joined Maine Medical Center in the summer of 2015, where I have felt privileged to be part of this great team. I specialize in adult cardiac surgery including heart valve repair or replacement, minimally invasive and transcatheter (TAVR) valve procedures, open, endovascular (TEVAR) and hybrid management of thoracic aortic disease, coronary artery bypass grafting, cardiac reoperations, and surgical management of heart failure. Research is also an integral part of my practice. Our laboratory is funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, Maine Medical Center, and generous donations from grateful patients. I work to be active in presenting and publishing new research. My focus is in translational and outcomes research, as well as innovation at MMC. Among my interests include understanding how the heart heals itself after injury, and studying our surgical outcomes to improve how our patients do after surgery.
As a new resident to Maine, I enjoy exploring new areas and spending time outside with my wife and two sons. I enjoy hiking, hockey, skiing, and I have an appreciation for music. I was motivated to become a physician because my mother was a nurse, and I was always fascinated by her textbooks and experiences from work. During my first year of medical school, I was given the opportunity to follow a cardiac surgeon, and during that time I realized this was exactly what I wanted to do with my life. It is rewarding to fix a heart problem and see the patient feel better. My goal is to engage my patients and their families in their care so that they have a total understanding of their cardiac disease and can be a part of making important decisions. I strive to be available for my patients and families, as well as their referring cardiologists. As a heart surgeon, I treat the patient, not just the disease, and work to deliver compassionate and individualized care.