In this episode, Dr. David Tom Cooke interviews Dr. Elaine Tseng from the University of California San Francisco. When it comes to the triple threat in academic surgery, Dr. Tseng “walks the walk.” A surgeon, scientist, and professor, she credits encouraging words from mentors and a near-death personal experience with helping her decide on a career in cardiothoracic surgery. Listeners will hear the details of Dr. Tseng growing up in North Carolina and sometimes feeling “stuck and not understood in many ways.” When she attended a high school for gifted and talented students, Dr. Tseng became part of a diverse community full of people from many different backgrounds; there, she finally felt accepted. Dr. Tseng shares that at 16, she started college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which she describes as a “transformative experience.” And you don’t want to miss what Dr. Tseng says about the fields of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery “coming closer and closer together” and what this means for patients. “Same Surgeon, Different Light” is a program from the Society designed to demystify cardiothoracic surgery, revealing the men and women behind their surgical masks.

Learn more about STS diversity and inclusion efforts at sts.org/diversity.

Patients can learn more about cardiothoracic diseases and their treatments at ctsurgerypatients.org.