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MY DAY starts around 5 a.m. when I clean the barn, feed my horses and get them ready for the day. Then I have a small breakfast and get myself ready. That part doesn't take too long.
I usually wear blue jeans, cowboy boots, and maybe a faded denim shirt and a bandanna around my neck. Patients love it. They think I'm one of the guys.
Driving from my farm in the village of Hampton to the Saint John Regional Hospital takes about 25 minutes. In decent weather, I take my motorcycle. It relaxes me and I try to ride it as much as I can.
Most days, I'm at work by 7. Seeing new patients and doing rounds takes up about 20% of my time. We do 12 cases a week divided among three surgeons. So I operate four cases a week, sometimes one day, sometimes two. I try to set aside one day a week for my administration duties.
I'm also chairman of our research committee. We're involved tight now in clinical research--artificial valve trials, early discharge of patients and that kind of thing.
The New Brunswick Heart Centre has just completed its fifth year. I was asked to come and start the program. Before that, there was no cardiac surgery done at all in the province.
It's really taken most of the five years to build the practice, so we don't have a lab where we can do large animal work. But we're looking into doing some small animal acute-type experimental stuff.
I feel very excited about what we do here. Our mortality rate is slightly below 3%. They tell me that's one of the lowest rates in Canada and I feel really great about it.
Part of my day usually involves meeting new patients. Each time I do, I'm very outgoing and very matter-of-fact. I do everything I can to leave them with the impression: "this guy knows what he's doing and he's going to fix me right up."
But, at the same time, I don't want to create a false sense of security. I tell everybody I operate on that there's a chance they could die with the surgery.
I tell them I think they have an excellent chance of...