Ep 004 - Colorectal Surgery with Dr. Scott Steele

Dr. Steele is the Chairman of Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland
Clinic (although at the time of recording this interview, he
was the Division Chief of Colon & Rectal Surgery at
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center) and Professor
of Surgery at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
in Cleveland, OH.


Dr. Steele completed his undergraduate degree at the United
States Military Academy at West Point in 1994; completed his
medical degree at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine
in 1998; completed a general surgery residency at Madigan Army
Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington in 2003; then completed a
colon and rectal surgery fellowship in 2005. Following completion
of his fellowship, Dr. Steele became the Chief of Colorectal
Surgery at Madigan Army Medical Center through until 2015, a
decade of service which saw him deployed as a staff surgeon to
Iraq and Afghanistan four times and for which he received the
Bronze Star among many other military awards. Then in late 2016,
after a short tenure at UH Cleveland Medical Center, Dr. Steele
accepted the position of Chairman of Colorectal Surgery at the
Cleveland Clinic where he remains today. Of note, Dr. Steele is
currently working toward his Executive MBA at Case Western
Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management, which is
right down the street from the hospital.


Dr. Steele is actively involved in the colorectal community. He
serves on several editorial boards including that of the Journal
of Gastrointestinal Surgery, and is also the American College of
Surgeons’ web porter for the colorectal community. His literary
contributions include over 200 articles, reviews, chapters, and
Clinical Practice Guidelines, as well as five complete Colorectal
Surgery textbooks.


Lastly, Dr. Steele is also the co-founder of the podcast, Behind
the Knife (at BehindTheKnife.org) which discusses topics related
to all things surgery and which boasts 20,000 downloads each
month.


Enjoy!


Part 1 - About the specialty [7:23]


Part 2 - How the specialty was the right choice [33:14]


Part 3 - Long-term career planning [53:57]