As a non-medical witness, the O.R. with its myriad of equipment, lights, blinking screens, wires, bizarre looking tools, etc., can easily cause one to forget that there is a living person under and at the center of all of it.  For this reason I took this shot of a patient’s hand peaking out of the layers of coverings.  To radically change the life of this single person is the only reason any of this is of any importance to both the doctors and the patients.  I suspect that the doctors who never forget this most paramount fact are the most valuable in their field.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.

Surgery is without question a team effort.  Every member of the surgical team has a very specific role.  Here an anesthesiologist carefully observes his patient while the spine surgeons do their work.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital is a teaching hospital. As it is with most hospitals like this, there are always plenty of student doctors eager to learn. One such future doctor curiously peeks into the OR hoping to catch some of the action.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.

A Surgical Technologist expertly and absentmindedly twirls a tool. I noticed him doing this on several occasions and marveled at how agile his fingers were. It wasn’t until later that I learned that when not in surgery, he is a drummer in a band.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.

To the general public, what surgeons do on a daily basis is as bizzare and mysterious to us as the headgear they wear while doing it.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.

A tired and overworked resident rests his head briefly while Dr. Albert and others work on a patient.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.

Phase one of getting ready to go into surgery.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.

Doing rounds.

Dr. Todd J. Albert is the president and chief spine surgeon at the Rothman Institute and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.  This is a photo essay for Orthopedics This Week about a humble and caring genius who cuts people’s bodies open and works on them as calmly and effectively as if he were carrying out a mundane task.