A
Jacksonville researcher has developed a way of sewing up patients after
hysterectomies that stands to reduce the risk of complications and simplify the
tricky procedure for less-seasoned surgeons.
Oh,
and he's 14 years old.
Feel
free to read that again.
Tony
Hansberry II is a ninth-grader who, as it happens, will be presenting his
findings today before an auditorium filled with doctors just like any of his
board-certified - and decades older - colleagues would. He would say he was
following in the footsteps of "Doogie Howser, M.D." - if he weren't
too young to have heard of the television show.
Instead,
he says that his remarkable accomplishments are merely steps toward his
ultimate goal of becoming a University of Florida-trained neurosurgeon.
"I
just want to help people and be respected, knowing that I can save lives,"
said Tony, the son of a registered nurse mom and an African Methodist Episcopal
church pastor dad.
To
be sure, he had some help along the way, but, then again, most researchers do.
The seeds of his project were planted last summer during his internship at the
University of Florida's Center for Simulation Education and Safety Research,
based at Shands Jacksonville.
To
understand why a teenager would be a hospital intern, it's important to know
that Tony is a student down the street from Shands at Darnell-Cookman
Middle/High School, a magnet school geared toward all things medical.
(Students, for example, master suturing by the eighth grade.)
At
the simulation center, where medical residents and nurses practice on dummies,
the normally shy student warmed up to the center's administrative director,
Bruce Nappi. In turn, Nappi, a problem-solver with a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology aeronautics degree, found someone willing to learn.
One
day, an obstetrics and gynecology professor asked the pair to help him figure
out why no one was using a handy device that looks like a dipstick with clamps
at the end, called an endo stitch, for sewing up hysterectomy patients. In
other procedures, it proved its worth for its ability to grip pieces of thread
and maneuverability.
What
Tony did next is so complicated that the professor who suggested the project
has to resort to a metaphor to explain it: "Instead of buttoning your
shirt side to side, what about doing it up and down?" Brent Seibel said.
Here's
the literal explanation: The problem was that the endo stitch couldn't clamp
down properly to close the tube where the patient's uterus had been. Tony
figured that by suturing the tube vertically instead of horizontally, it could
be done. And he was right.
Nappi
said he came up with the idea but didn't tell Tony, letting him come to the
conclusion himself.
"It
was truly independent that he figured it out," Nappi said, adding that a
representative for the device's manufacturer told him that the endo stitch had
never been used for that purpose.
Tony's
unpracticed hands were able to stitch three times faster with the endo stitch
vs. the conventional needle driver. Further study may prove whether the same is
true for more experienced surgeons, Seibel said.
In
addition to cutting surgical time, the technique may help surgeons who don't do
many hysterectomies because it's easier to use the endo stitch, he added.
Tony's
presentation today is part of UF's medical education week, a time to spotlight
teaching advancements, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Tony
often speaks in the highly technical, dispassionate language of doctors. In
that respect, he's not the exception but the rule at Darnell-Cookman, said Angela
TenBroeck, the school's medical lead teacher. But he has surged ahead of others
when it comes to surgical skills.
"I
would put him up against a first-year med student," she said. "He's
an outstanding young man, and I'm proud to have him representing us."
Tony
D. Hansberry is not your average college freshman. Perceived at as a child
prodigy after developing an innovative suture method that decreases hospital
stay and increases efficiency during operations for hysterectomies, the then
14-year-old said he just wanted to bring a prize back home from the science
fair.
“People
think I’m a genius,” Hansberry said. “It’s not that at all, I just like
medicine.”
Hansberry,
a freshman bio-medical engineering student at Florida A&M University
(FAMU), said after not winning in the science fair in the eighth grade, he
teamed up with an administrator at Shands Hospital to create the innovative
surgical procedure. Hansberry has continued his education in the field that
caught his interest early on as a child.
Unlike
most students, the 18-year-old Hansberry was no stranger to the hills of FAMU.
Born in Tallahassee and raised in Jacksonville, Fla., Hansberry considers FAMU
to be home.
“The
joy that my dad has when he sees his friends, I wanted that,” said Hansberry,
the offspring of FAMU alumnus Elder Tony Hansberry.
Like
his father, a former Marching “100” member and King of Orange and Green, Tony
D. Hansberry has the Rattler leadership venom in his veins. Hansberry presides
as the freshman class senator and will continue to serve until his term is
over.
Hansberry,
like other first-time students, said he continues to learn how to balance
school and extracurricular activities while he maintains his good grades.
“Make
sure you know the priorities of school before you join any organization,”
Hansberry said.
Being
a full time student and freshman class senator requires a lot of time and
networking, but Hansberry said he knows it is something he can master.
Hansberry
said he was torn about changing his major from bio-medical engineering to
chemistry, but now finds comfort in knowing that he has a clear definition of
what he wants to pursue for the longevity of his career.
“I
want to become a trauma surgeon,” Hansberry said.
Hansberry
acknowledges that the career he has chosen requires dedication, plenty of
studying and long nights, but he has the drive and will to get there.
“I
don’t know how I’m going to get there, I just know I will,” Hansberry said.
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