"Never Forgetting His Roots Helps Surgical Oncologist Better Connect With His Patients" - Ronald Piana
Raja Flores, MD, professor and system chair of thoracic surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai grew up in New York’s Meatpacking District, light years before its gentrification into a commercial area. “Growing up I saw a lot of violence. I remember some kid had a midline incision and asked what happened. Well, he’d been stabbed but survived because of the ER docs. Other kids who’d been shot had colostomies, which everyone made fun of. But the next thing we knew was that they went back to the hospital to get the colostomy reversed. And I thought to myself how cool it must be to help someone who’d been critically injured,” said Dr. Flores on his decision to pursue a career in medicine. He added, “It helps me to identify with a patient, and it helps a patient trust me. I leave the doctor talk aside and speak to patients in plain, sincere language. That’s what I love about my job: building trust and having a real one-on-one conversation with my patients. I never neglect my patients. I’m there for them all the way through their treatment.”
— Raja M. Flores, MD, Steven and Ann Ames Professor, Thoracic Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chair, Thoracic Surgery, Mount Sinai Health System