as told to Liz Bronson Rosenau

When treatments are labeled “risky” we want to know what that means. High risk? Low risk?

Heart disease kills more people than all forms of cancer combined. Thankfully, over the last decade, public knowledge about heart disease has increased dramatically. It is imperative for women to be well-informed on this subject since they are most often the decision-makers regarding health care and have the greatest impact on relatives and friends—both male and female. I’ve noticed that busy, on-the-go women often focus on others rather than themselves, so knowledge about the symptoms, which can sometimes be subtle, is important.

I’m a voice nerd. One reason this field fascinated me was because it was something I could apply my engineering background to; I designed a long-lasting hearing aid years ago, and was surprised to see that engineering related to the larynx in a similar way. I’m also deeply interested in the relationship between the voice and personality. People often refer to “finding their voice” in a metaphorical, internal sense, but it really is connected to our external voice as well. My patients often say, “I want to be understood.” Our ability to speak and be heard really influences who we are and how we interact with others.

Philip Theodosopoulos: In terms of sinus surgery, even 10 years ago you couldn’t do most of what we do now. The old way involved opening the skull and sometimes breaking the jawbones to get to tumors.

My focus is on inpatient diabetes. No matter what they’ve been admitted for—car accident, heart attack, having a baby—about one-third of our 500 hospital patients are diagnosed with diabetes; over one half will be diagnosed with hyperglycemia, or elevated blood sugar. With those who have diabetes, we want to help them get treatment, and with those who have hyperglycemia we want to see if we can intervene before complications arise.