Neurosurgeons take a scalpel to their own health habits and get great results

Helen Adams

January 20, 2017

It's not glamorous, but it works for a quick workout. Dr. Sunil Patel shows off a rowing machine in a Department of Neurosurgery office. Photo by Sarah Pack

When neurosurgeon Sunil Patel tells his patients to consider making some changes to become healthier, he can use himself as an example.

His old way of eating: “It was whatever I got my hands on. It was always easy to go grab a bag of chips or a fried chicken sandwich and go through the cafeteria line.”

Now, it’s often salad and fruit. And he exercises regularly, something he hadn’t done in decades.

“My weight has improved, my blood pressure is better, and my cholesterol is, too. And I’m not taking any medicine,” Patel said. “My energy is as good at 5 p.m. as it is at 8 a.m. When I go home, I’m not a slug anymore.”

His secret: A wellness program for residents and faculty at the Medical University of South Carolina’s Department of Neurosurgery that has lowered their diastolic blood pressure, reduced anxiety and depression, led to higher scores on a quality of life scale and cut the number of people with “abnormal” sleep from 33 percent to 10 percent.

Patel is chairman of the department and a big advocate for what became known as Operation La Sierra, named after a 1960s high school fitness program. “So many diseases are preventable,” he said. “Eighty or 90 percent of the cost of health care in this county is the way we behave, the way we eat. Physicians need to fix that themselves before they tell patients to.”

He always knew that, but until Operation La Sierra started in 2015, he had a hard time focusing on his health. He was busy training residents and seeing his patients. Plus, neurosurgery was traditionally a pretty unforgiving profession.

“To those of us who trained in the old days, there was no such thing as well-being,” Patel said. “You shall be here six days a week, and there’s this much work, and we don’t care what you eat or how you exercise and mind your health.” That was the old mindset.

But the new mindset for his team has changed all of that. Doctors are encouraged to exercise during breaks in the workday, using gym equipment that’s been installed in spare office space. At one point there was even a treadmill and stationary bike right next to an operating room.
Unhealthy grab-and-go meals are, for the most part, gone, thanks to nutrition counseling. Sleep monitoring emphasizes the importance of rest, even for doctors whose jobs require them to work odd hours.

Six faculty members and nine residents volunteered to take part in the pilot program. Former resident Avery Buchholz, who is now a fellow at the University of Virginia Health System, said he loved it. “This was absolutely worth doing, and I wish we had started doing it sooner. Being somewhere that does not have as much emphasis on physical and mental health only makes me more appreciative of MUSC for having La Sierra.”

The two neurosurgeons who started the program, Raymond Turner and Alejandro Spiotta, are thrilled with the results – and the buzz it’s generating. They’ve spoken about Operation La Sierra at medical conferences, Turner recently gave a presentation at the Charleston Library Society and they’ve published reports in medical journals.

It’s also become a selling point for young doctors applying for medical residencies. Spiotta said about 280 people submit applications, 40 are asked to come for interviews and two will be selected. “We’ve been getting lit up with letters post-interview about how great the wellness program is, and they want us to consider them highly.”

Other neurosurgery programs are taking notice. “Every program wants to incorporate to some degree what we’re doing,” Spiotta said. “This is definitely catching on.”

The MUSC program may reach a wider audience this spring, when a documentary including footage of the neurosurgeons is expected to show in film festivals. Filmmaker Doug Orchard said he hopes “The Motivation Factor: Becoming Smart, Productive and Mentally Stable” will go into full release this summer.

“[The MUSC neurosurgeons] are depicted as the leaders in graduate medical education for incorporating wellness fully into their curriculum and modeling for the residents what is needed to be an effective physician, which means taking care of their bodies, including exercise,” Orchard said in an email.

While some residents and faculty declined to take part in Operation La Sierra, seeing it as unnecessary or too difficult to squeeze into already packed schedules, Patel said it’s here to stay.

“I think there’s a lot of camaraderie because of it. The program has brought good habits for everyone, and it’s part of our lives now.”

About the Author

Helen Adams

Categories: Fitness and Wellness