Connecting two unrelated fields can lead to world-changing discoveries. Dr. Claudius Conrad has led both the medical and music industry in combining music and surgery, revolutionizing laparoscopic robotic surgery and the approach surgeons take to building their teams and healing their patients. 

Joining Fran Racioppi as the first in-person guest of the podcast, Dr. Conrad explains how the use of music can not only facilitate the healing process in patients, but also improve the performance of surgeons and other healthcare professionals in the operating room itself. Listen in to learn how being a Steinway & Sons music composer and a German Special Forces Sniper have propelled him to lead the world in minimally invasive pancreatic surgery; and vice-versa! 

Read the full episode transcription here and learn more on The Jedburgh Podcast Website.

Highlights:

-An explanation of the connection between music and surgical medicine in terms of skill comparison, precision, zero tolerance for failure and both as a “performance.”

-Dr. Conrad talks about his recruitment into the German Special Forces Sniper unit and his double major in medicine and music.

-Discussion on the mindset and preparation required to become  an elite surgeon and an elite pianist; the need to work everyday towards the goals.

-Dr. Conrad details how to create a recording album and speaks about his piano album Healing Hands.

-Fran & Dr. Conrad engage in a detailed discussion on Minimally Invasive Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery and Robotic Laparoscopic surgery and how Dr. Conrad leads the medical industry in the use of robots in this field.

-Discussion on the Whipple Procedure and the increase of pancreatic cancer diagnosis over the last 30 years. 

-Dr. Conrad discusses how he organizes and builds his teams of elite surgeons. What he looks for and how he uses music to form bonds between the team. 

-Tips on how to manage a group of top performers in a multi-disciplinary team unified by the medical profession tenets of “do no harm” and “for the best of the patient.” 

-Analysis of the generational shift in medicine from the baby boomers to Gen X and now Gen Z; including the rise of AI & Machine Learning.

Quotes:

-”If everybody thinks it’s a bad idea, yet your heart tells you to pursue it, it’s a clear sign that this is a perfect idea, and you should go for it.”

-”I am certainly a master at failure. But I am also a master at getting back up again.”

-”You have to learn how to learn and make it a habit to be uncomfortable.”

-”Being a surgeon helps me become a better pianist, and being a pianist helps me become a better surgeon. Science and art, precision and creativity, discipline and transcendence. In the end, both are about connection.”

-"Surgeons, who have to execute prolonged motor performance, often enjoy so-called ‘activating’ music."

-”Give yourself three goals in life, ideally ones that you are not already excelling in, and make it a point to get better at those. By doing so you will become a better person.”

-”I am looking for people who are better than me in at least one aspect.”

-“Find what motivates each member on your team.”

Dr. Conrad’s Three Daily Foundations of Success:

-Improve your technical skill set

-Maintain a welcoming personality

-Increase knowledge