raid siren telling us that we were under attack. I looked to the skies half-expecting to see World War II bombers flying overhead. During these tornado warnings, all the patients would be moved out of their rooms, away from the windows, and into the central corridors of the building. No sooner had we done it than the threat would be over, and we would have to move them all back again. The tornado would have touched down elsewhere and even though we were safe, somewhere a random city block or two would have been flattened in a matter of seconds.
My new position in Denver was that of Solid Organ Transplant Fellow at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Centre. The transplant division at UCHSC is a small but very prestigious unit. It has some of the best long-term survival results for liver transplant anywhere in the world. It was the hospital where the father of liver transplantation, Thomas Starzl, performed the first liver transplant in the world in 1963. That first patient did not live long but Starzl was undeterred. Buoyed by the success of his kidney transplant program, he stared down a tidal wave of criticism and carried on until he had a successful outcome. The first liver transplant operation that produced a long-term survivor did not occur until some years later. After a lot of internal problems, Dr Starzl moved histransplant program to Pittsburgh in 1981 and the Denver unit temporarily fell by the wayside.
In the late 1980s it was resurrected by the current director, a formidable surgeon and Starzl acolyte named Igal Kam. As liver transplants gained widespread acceptance, Starzl was training surgeons from around the world so they could return to their home countries and start transplant programs of their own. Dr Kam was an Israeli by birth and attended medical school there. After training with Starzl he planned to return to Israel to set up their first liver transplant unit. But he soon fell in love with life in the US and after a short stint back in Israel to perform that countryâs first liver transplant, he decided to return and make the US his home. Dr Kam saw an opportunity to rekindle Denverâs abandoned transplant program. This must have been a difficult time for him as a foreigner restarting a somewhat controversial and expensive service. Like all people trying to succeed in an adopted country, trust has to be earned and a reputation must be built. Over the ensuing years, Dr Kam has turned the University of Colorado Hospital Transplant Unit into a stunning success.
Professor Lynch had trained right alongside Dr Kam in Pittsburgh, and being Fellows together in Starzlâs high-pressure unit was a bonding experience. The two of them had become close friends and it was this connection that led me to Colorado. It was common practice for jobs like mine to be arranged on a word of mouth basis. Thisavoided the risk of taking on a trainee who turns out to be a liability to the unit. No one would dare send an underperforming surgeon to work for a friend. I just hoped that I would live up to their expectations. It was agreed that I would be given at least a year of work with the possibility of extending to two if I fitted in well.
I accepted the position knowing that I would not initially be paid for my work. A drug company was kind enough to give me a small stipend to get me started, but I would have to fund the rest of the year myself. There are not too many jobs where you reach the top of your profession but go to the bottom of the pay scale. However, it is usual that this is the arrangement for surgical fellowships and my payment was to be well trained in liver transplantation. Going without a salary involved much deliberation for Andrew and me. We had just bought a house in Australia and had a hefty mortgage to support. Our friends and parents thought we were crazy. But the chance to experience living like an American was just too good an opportunity to pass up. It was worth more to us than
My new position in Denver was that of Solid Organ Transplant Fellow at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Centre. The transplant division at UCHSC is a small but very prestigious unit. It has some of the best long-term survival results for liver transplant anywhere in the world. It was the hospital where the father of liver transplantation, Thomas Starzl, performed the first liver transplant in the world in 1963. That first patient did not live long but Starzl was undeterred. Buoyed by the success of his kidney transplant program, he stared down a tidal wave of criticism and carried on until he had a successful outcome. The first liver transplant operation that produced a long-term survivor did not occur until some years later. After a lot of internal problems, Dr Starzl moved histransplant program to Pittsburgh in 1981 and the Denver unit temporarily fell by the wayside.
In the late 1980s it was resurrected by the current director, a formidable surgeon and Starzl acolyte named Igal Kam. As liver transplants gained widespread acceptance, Starzl was training surgeons from around the world so they could return to their home countries and start transplant programs of their own. Dr Kam was an Israeli by birth and attended medical school there. After training with Starzl he planned to return to Israel to set up their first liver transplant unit. But he soon fell in love with life in the US and after a short stint back in Israel to perform that countryâs first liver transplant, he decided to return and make the US his home. Dr Kam saw an opportunity to rekindle Denverâs abandoned transplant program. This must have been a difficult time for him as a foreigner restarting a somewhat controversial and expensive service. Like all people trying to succeed in an adopted country, trust has to be earned and a reputation must be built. Over the ensuing years, Dr Kam has turned the University of Colorado Hospital Transplant Unit into a stunning success.
Professor Lynch had trained right alongside Dr Kam in Pittsburgh, and being Fellows together in Starzlâs high-pressure unit was a bonding experience. The two of them had become close friends and it was this connection that led me to Colorado. It was common practice for jobs like mine to be arranged on a word of mouth basis. Thisavoided the risk of taking on a trainee who turns out to be a liability to the unit. No one would dare send an underperforming surgeon to work for a friend. I just hoped that I would live up to their expectations. It was agreed that I would be given at least a year of work with the possibility of extending to two if I fitted in well.
I accepted the position knowing that I would not initially be paid for my work. A drug company was kind enough to give me a small stipend to get me started, but I would have to fund the rest of the year myself. There are not too many jobs where you reach the top of your profession but go to the bottom of the pay scale. However, it is usual that this is the arrangement for surgical fellowships and my payment was to be well trained in liver transplantation. Going without a salary involved much deliberation for Andrew and me. We had just bought a house in Australia and had a hefty mortgage to support. Our friends and parents thought we were crazy. But the chance to experience living like an American was just too good an opportunity to pass up. It was worth more to us than
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