MRHC offers robot-assisted surgery

A North Carolina native, Smith fell in love with cardiothoracic surgery as a kid when a family friend invited him to view a heart surgery at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC.

“There’s a certain romance about the heart that we all have and particularly heart surgery. You feel like you’re touching somebody’s soul,” he said.

His passion led him through years of training beginning with medical school at Wake Forest School of Medicine and continuing through the completion of a general surgery residency at Kendall Regional Medical Center in Miami, a surgical critical care fellowship at Orlando Regional Medical Center and a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York.

It was while working in Florida he fell in love with robotic surgery working under renowned robotic thoracic surgeon Dr. Luis Herrera.

Smith said the DaVinci system is an amazing tool that gives him unique capabilities to perform surgeries in minimally invasive ways, reducing recovery times while improving the outcomes for patients. The system gives him a highly magnified three-dimensional view inside the chest and using tiny instruments passed through small incisions provides him with dexterity far beyond that of the unaided human.

“Having that extra dexterity inside the chest allows me to do much more complex surgeries,” he explained.

“The primary benefit is the ability to do minimally invasive surgery in places where otherwise I couldn’t. Instead of making a large incision and spreading somebody’s ribs, I can take most tumors out in five or six tiny incisions. They go home the next day or the day after and they’re fully recovered in a week or two,” he said.

This is a major contrast with traditional open procedures that would often require months of recovery. It’s a unique capability and Smith is the only one doing robotic thoracic surgery in the region.

“Robotic thoracic is unique to me in this region and we’re pushing ahead in the area,” he said.

Coming to Corinth was an easy decision for Smith and his family, including his wife, Dr. Joy Smith who he met in medical school, and their three children ages 7, 6, and 4. Growing up in a small town near where Andy Griffith drew inspiration for the fictional town of Mayberry, the surgeon said Corinth’s small town and friendly atmosphere is familiar and comfortable. He and his family enjoy camping, fishing, and hunting and the region’s access to outdoor activities was also a big draw.

“It feels a lot like home with the small town feel and knowing everybody,” he said.

He said MRHC is also the perfect size for how he wants to practice medicine.

“Of all the institutions I’ve been in, this definitely has that family feel. It’s small enough where we can change on a dime if we need to. We can move resources here and there to modify what we’ve been practicing and improve things, but it’s still big enough to be able to offer big stuff like heart surgery, robotic thoracic surgery, and high-level ICU care. It’s just the right size,” he said.

He looks forward every day to working with a group of people who are all dedicated to making a difference in the lives of those they serve.

“I really enjoy the team we have here at Magnolia and the patients. They place a lot of trust in us and that’s a real privilege,” he said.