RIFLE RANGE BOY

Time warps for a young surgeon with metastatic lung cancer By Paul Kalanithi Photography by Gregg Segal In residency, there’s a saying: The days are long, but the years are short. In neurosurgical training, the day usually began a little before 6 a.m., and lasted until the operating was done, which depended, in part, on how quick you were in the OR. Extras: video  video interview volumehigh  audio interview layers Paul Kalanithi Time at home. Time well spent A resident’s surgical skill is judged by his technique and his speed. You can’t be sloppy and you can’t be slow. From your first wound closure onward, spend too much time being precise and the scrub tech will announce, “Looks like we’ve got a plastic surgeon on our hands!” Or say: “I get your strategy — by the time you finish sewing the top half of the wound, the bottom will have healed on its own. Half the work — smart!” A c...

http://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/biogs/E005466b.htm  (A write-up on the College web page) Balasegaram, Manickavasager (1929 - 2014) MB BS King Edward VII College 1955; FRCS 1960; FRCS Edin 1960; FRACS 1968; FICS 1968; FACS 1969; Hon FPCS 1975; FIAP 1977; FCICD 1978. Born 15 April 1929 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Died 5 May 2014 Occupation General surgeon and Liver surgeon Details Manickavasagar Balasegaram was a pioneering surgeon in Malaysia, who gained prominence for his anatomical studies of the liver and for his development of the 'Balasegaram clamp'. 'Bala' or 'Prof', as he was known, was renowned for taking on complex surgeries that few others did in the region. He was also highly respected as a teacher and mentor. He was born on 15 April 1929 in colonial Malaya, the son of poor Ceylonese migrants. He had an unsettled childhood, living in boarding houses in order to go to school. At 15, after his father's arrest by the occupying Japanese ...