A Surgeon's Journey

What does it take to make a surgeon? What does it take to unmake a surgeon? Jeff Wiseman was at the top of his career when he decided to quit and become a dairy farmer when he wasn't fishing his favorite streams.   A Surgeon's Journey explores the tough issues around the failures of the hospital system, the joys and disappointments of a medical career, the pitfalls of patient care and the constant battle against death and disease. The author's message is to leave room for the human in an increasingly impersonal and bureaucratic system. A surgeon needs empathy as much as professional skill for without the first he or she become alienated from his patients, his colleagues and himself.   In a book at once lyrical and self-critical Jeff Wiseman takes his readers on a journey of the soul sustained by professional comradeship of his colleagues and the humanity of his patients  but often undermined by conflicting demands of both. Sometimes you have to say no and go fishing for your heart.

Jeff Wiseman of Athens, PA Obsessed with biology and road kill from an early age Jeff Wiseman received his MD in Surgery together with his certification in General Surgery and Colon and Rectal Surgery in 1991. On the way there he collected a Golden Stethoscope Award as he graduated and several other teaching awards as a full time professional. He practiced as a surgeon and helped train young surgeons until 2005 during which time he wrote numerous papers and undertook thousands of surgical operations all of which led him to resign and become a dairy farmer. He also held among many other positions the Chairmanship of the Animal Care and Utilization committee for a long time and was editor of Bereavement Magazine for a short time. He is an obsessive fisherman and a sometime hunter. He lives on his family farm in Athens PA.