About Me

Working in the field of colorectal surgery allows me to see patients with a wide range of surgical problems, many of which are sensitive in nature, and make a lasting impact on their lives. The care I provide might give a patient a possible cure for their cancer, help them manage complications of Crohn’s disease or aid them in relief from bowel incontinence. All of these improvements give my patients a quality of life that may have been out of reach before receiving treatment.

I treat my patients the way I would want my family to be treated. I use evidence-based therapies so my patients receive care based on the most up-to-date guidelines. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center gives me the opportunity to provide the highest quality of care to patients from diverse backgrounds, often with complex medical and surgical conditions. For these conditions, I often provide care to patients as part of a multidisciplinary team, which opens the door for active care coordination and communication between providers.

I perform minimally invasive colon and rectal surgeries, including robotic surgery, when it’s appropriate for my patients. I’m proud to be one of the earliest adopters of robotic surgery for colorectal patients at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. I’m also the only colorectal surgeon at the medical center who performs sacral nerve stimulator implantation for bowel incontinence, which is the most effective treatment for moderate to severe symptoms.

I have been fortunate to learn from excellent mentors in academic surgery during my training and since entering practice. They have fostered in me a love for the practice of medicine and helped me to become a skilled surgeon and educator. Because of their influence, I’m inspired to mentor students interested in a surgical career.

I enjoy teaching, both in clinical environments and in virtual and in-person classroom settings, and get to interact with medical students and residents through several different roles at the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. I lead the pelvic floor program in colon and rectal surgery in addition to holding a number of leadership positions in surgical education. I’m an associate program director for the Ohio State General Surgery Residency, and I direct a summer career exploration program for students interested in a general surgery career. I’m also the unit director for the medical students’ required clerkships in surgery, in which I supervise and administer surgery training for more than 200 students per year at Ohio State and our participating community hospitals. This gives me an opportunity to mentor individual students applying to residency programs in surgical specialties. Through my educational leadership roles and mentorship of trainees, I help to shape the quality of care for the next generation of physicians.

My research in surgical education has most recently focused on how to structure coaching activities for residents and students to best improve performance. On the clinical side, I’m involved in research for colorectal cancer, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and pelvic floor disorders related to GI function and GI surgeries.

In my free time, I enjoy gardening, hiking and playing games with my family.

Highlights

• Rated in the top 10 percent of physicians in the nation for patient satisfaction, 2016-2019
• First provider to open a pelvic floor clinic for colorectal surgery at Ohio State
• A leader in surgical education at Ohio State

Procedures and Conditions I Treat

• Pelvic Floor Disorders
• Colon Cancers
• Appendix Cancer
• Anal Cancers
• Anal Gland Cancer
• Fecal Incontinence
• Rectal Fistula
• Rectocele
• Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
• Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures
• General Surgery
• Robotics
• Colorectal Surgery
• Diverticulitis, Colonic
• Colitis, Ulcerative
• Colonic Diseases
• Ultrasound, High-Intensity Focused, Transrectal
• Rectal Cancers
• Rectal Diseases
• Crohn Disease
• Sigmoid Cancer
• Colorectal Cancers
• Adenomatous Polyposis Coli
• Cecal Diseases
• Hemorrhoids
• Hemorrhoidectomy
• Chilaiditi Syndrome
• Colitis, Ischemic
• Gardner Syndrome
• Megacolon
• Megacolon, Toxic
• Rectal Prolapse
• Rectovaginal Fistula
• Hirschsprung Disease

Reviews

The overall patient satisfaction rating is an average of all patient responses to the six doctor communication related questions shown below from the Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. For additional information about the patient satisfaction survey, please visit our Patient Satisfaction Survey page.

The comments are submitted by patients and reflect their view and opinions. The comments are not endorsed by and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.