LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Get to know a little more about some of our physician leaders.
Our physicians at UF Health are transforming the lives of our patients and influencing the health care industry with their expertise and insights. From performing research to providing inpatient care and conducting surgeries, our physicians impact the lives of patients and their families locally and across the world.
We have a unique setting in that a number of our leaders continue to see patients after they have been appointed to a new role within the hospital. Those working double-duty, if you will, begin at the top with David R. Nelson, M.D., UF senior vice president for health affairs and UF Health president, who still runs clinics, sees patients and is an acclaimed physician-researcher.
David R. Nelson, M.D. senior vice president for health affairs at UF and president of UF Health
Q: What is your area of expertise and why did you select this area of medicine?
A: Hepatology is the study and treatment of people with liver disease, and I enjoy the blend of science, research and patient care/procedures.
Q: If you weren’t a physician in your current area of expertise, which other area of medicine would you have selected to specialize in and why?
A: Neurology, because I like the diagnostic challenges and ability to link a treatment plan.
Q: If you weren’t a doctor, what would you have pursued?
A: Soccer. My original dream was to play for the U.S. Men’s National Team in the Olympics.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a physician?
A: Every day provides a new opportunity to make an impact. It’s the best job in the world!
Q: Did you always want to be a doctor?
A: No. It was a late decision in college after I had a sports injury.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given and by whom?
A: My dad. He said, “Stay true to yourself and be humble.”
Q: What’s the most common question you receive from your patients?
A: How can I keep my liver healthy, especially regarding safe amounts of alcohol?
Did you know …
I went to medical school at: The State University of New York, or SUNY, Upstate Medical University in Syracuse
The most interesting medical school course I remember taking: Anatomy cadaver dissection
What I enjoy most about working at UF Health: The people are like family and the talent here is truly amazing!
When I need to relax: I golf or bike.
People would be surprised to know
that: I am an identical twin.
Marvin A. Dewar, M.D., J.D., UF Health Physicians CEO and chief medical officer; UF College of Medicine senior associate dean
Q: What is your area of expertise and why did you select this area of medicine?
A: My background has been primarily in primary care — family medicine and emergency medicine. I was the first one in my family to embark on a medical career, and I enjoyed almost all of the clinical areas I was exposed to. I think I would have been happy if I had been assigned to any of a number of medical specialties.
Q: If you weren’t a physician in your current area of expertise, which other area of medicine would you have selected to specialize in and why?
A: If I had not gone the primary care route, I probably would have become a general surgeon for some of the same reasons I entered primary care. Surgeons deal with a broad range of medical conditions that go beyond any one area.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being
a physician?
A: I feel privileged to be able to engage in such a respected and scientifically changing field that requires us to constantly problem-solve to serve others in a way that is so personally important to them. I can’t think of a more honorable thing to do.
Q: Did you always want to be a doctor?
A: The idea of becoming a physician settled in early in my college years as a way to combine a love for science and problem-solving with service to others. I am also trained in law and a member of the Florida Bar Association. If I wasn’t practicing as a physician, I would be practicing as a lawyer, likely in the appellate arena.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given and by whom?
From my father, who said, “Always be true to your True North,” and my mother, who said, “Don’t ever go to bed at night mad.”
Q: What’s the most common question you receive from your patients?
A: They say it in different ways, but I very commonly hear patients express the need to know that their health care team is completely dedicated to their best interests.
Did you know …
I went to medical school at: The University of South Florida and law school at UF
The most interesting medical school course I remember taking: Physiology and pathophysiology. One was about how our body systems were supposed to work and the other was about how things can go awry. Everything else seemed to flow from that!
What I enjoy most about working at UF Health: Honorable mission, great people and a wide variety of opportunities. What more could you want?
When I need to relax: I read, exercise and do errands/projects.
People would be surprised to know that: I grew up on a family farm and still propagate plants for fun.
C. Parker Gibbs Jr., M.D., UF Health Shands chief medical officer; UF College of Medicine orthopaedic surgery division chief and senior associate dean for clinical affairs
Q: What is your area of expertise and why did you select this area of medicine?
A: I am an orthopaedic oncologist and orthopaedic surgeon who treats benign and malignant tumors of the extremities and pelvis.
I chose this specialty because of amazing mentors, and it allows me to make a real difference in people’s lives both in the short and long term. I get to know not only the patients but also their families, and I have the good fortune of following them for years.
Q: If you weren’t a physician in your current area of expertise, which other area of medicine would you have selected to specialize in and why?
A: Immunology is fascinating in its complexity and its potential applications.
Q: If you weren’t a doctor, what other profession would you have pursued?
A: I think I’d have been a lawyer or a marine biologist.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a physician?
A: Too many things to count! But in the end, I come home tired every day knowing I made a difference to someone.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given and by whom?
A: Paraphrased from George Bernard Shaw via my dad — “Be used for a purpose, be a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
Q: What’s the most common question you receive from your patients?
A: Why and how did my cancer start?
Q: When you perform surgery, what is your preferred OR music?
A: Classic rock and reggae
Did you know …
I went to medical school at: UF
The most interesting medical school course I remember taking: It wasn’t a course, but the most interesting lecture I ever heard was on forensic pathology. Fascinating.
What I enjoy most about working at UF Health is: The “place” really cares. It is a big, complex, unwieldy academic medical center — and yet every day I see wonderful examples of caring by our staff, our nurses and our docs.
When I need to relax: I get outside, as nature lets me recharge.
People would be surprised to know that: I’m dumb enough to try to learn to surf in my 50s.
Joseph A. Tyndall, M.D., M.P.H., UF College of Medicine interim dean and professor & chair of emergency medicine
Q: What is your area of expertise and why did you select this area of medicine?
A: My clinical discipline is in emergency medicine. I became interested in the specialty from my first experiences in the hospital as a nursing assistant in an emergency department in Washington, D.C. Back then, I worked in the department where some of the founding fathers of emergency medicine built an academic practice. I was drawn to their clinical expertise in handling almost any emergent situation. It was clear that they were content experts in acute care management of any illness or injury and that their expertise in the golden hour of care was critical in ensuring patient survival to the next level of care.
I was also drawn to the social context of their practice — the physicians had a phenomenal ability to communicate with anyone from any walk of life. Every day, they devoted themselves to making each patient comfortable, speaking their language, gaining their trust and providing outstanding expert and compassionate care. Most of all, I was drawn to a commitment to be a safety net for the health care system and to be able to provide care 24/7/365 — any time, any place and anywhere.
Q: If you weren’t a physician in your current area of expertise, which other area of medicine would you have selected to specialize in and why?
A: I was drawn to trauma surgery and critical care and even considered pursuing it after my original training.
Q: If you weren’t a doctor, what other profession would you have pursued?
A: Art/Music. I trained as a musician as part of my education in college and I was in love with the idea of composing for film.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a physician?
A: Without a doubt, being a physician is about being able to impact lives. It is not only an opportunity to care for others but an opportunity to become a better physician and, in the end, become a better human being.
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given and by whom?
A: The late Dr. Elizabeth Tso, a professor emeritus of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland, was my most significant mentor in medicine. Her last words of advice to me before she passed were, “Follow your heart.”
Did you know …
I went to medical school at: The University of Maryland School of Medicine
The most interesting medical school course I remember taking was: Neurobiology
What I enjoy most about working at UF Health: Working at UF Health is truly like working as part of an extended family. It is always about people — it was what first attracted me to UF and why I choose to stay.
When I need to relax: I ride a bicycle or play the piano.
People would be surprised to know that: I still make time for an occasional piano lesson.