Caitlin Whyte (Host): One On One with Regional One Health is your inside look at how we're building healthier tomorrows for our patients and our community. Join us as we get to know some of the individuals who help provide life-saving and life-changing care for our community. Today, we're getting acquainted with Dr. John Schorge, Chief of the OB-GYN Service at Regional One Health. Dr. Schorge is a nationally known expert in complex gynecologic surgery and treating gynecologic cancers, including cervical, ovarian, and uterine cancer. He is committed to improving access to world-class care for all women in the mid-south.

Well, Doctor, we are so glad to have you on the show today. To start us off, can you tell us a little bit about your background and why you decided to pursue a career in Medicine, specifically as a gynecologic oncologist and complex gynecologic surgeon?

Dr. John Schorge: Well, one sentence in, you can tell I'm not from Memphis. I am from a small little town in Michigan that is about a hundred miles north of Detroit, and it has a single flashing light, and I live six miles outside of that town, so that that's where I'm from. Neither of my parents went to college, but they valued education, and they wanted to make sure that I did as well.

And so, I went to college within the state of Michigan and then ended up going to Vanderbilt for medical school. And that's really where I got the bug of going into GYN-Oncology. I had two older sisters. I do not have any brothers. I think that's part of what drew me to OB-GYN. And in the course of my rotation at Vanderbilt, I really had a wonderful experience and some role models who were residents there at the time and ended up going into GYN-Oncology. And that's part of what drew me into the field. I also felt like these physicians really had a very difficult set of circumstances for women that were at a very difficult point in their life. Sometimes they get cured, sometimes they don't, but they do need someone that they trust to shepherd them through the process and take real good care of them. So, that's how I ended up going into the field.

Host: Wonderful. Well, you mentioned you're not from Memphis, so my next question is what drew you to Memphis and Regional One Health? And why is it so important to you to make sure there's an expert available right in the heart of the city?

Dr. John Schorge: I had seen the job posting in Memphis and hadn't been back to Tennessee since medical school some 20, 25 years before. And yet I really enjoyed my time in Tennessee, and so that was part of the attraction. But it really came down to two things. Number one, I met the people. And it was the people, the people, the people, the faculty members that were dedicated, the residents that were dedicated, the training programs that we had here, and the mission. And I was really blown away and thought I really want to be part of this, this team. And that was probably the main thing.

The second thing was when I realized that a woman here downtown at Regional One, if she had a uterine cancer or GYN cancer diagnosis, she couldn't get care here. She was told that she had to go out to East Memphis. And then, there could be insurance issues and other things. And I told people, wait a minute, if I just walk in to the hospital, if I just simply walk through the door, that same patient can have counseling downtown in her community. She can have surgery there with me. She can have supervision of her chemotherapy and the whole course of treatment. And you just don't get a chance to make an impact like that very often. And that was the clincher.

Host: Absolutely. Well, you mentioned your team in that last answer, and I've heard you and your team have been able to dramatically increase the percentage of women who receive minimally invasive surgeries for hysterectomy and other conditions. How have you done this, and why is that so important?

Dr. John Schorge: It's really the state-of-the-art to have a minimally invasive surgery for a hysterectomy nowadays and go home the same day. It reduces your risk of complications, of length of stay in the hospital, expenses, return to work. Everything about it is superior. And yet Memphis is at the epicenter of a lot of healthcare disparities, and across the country, the likelihood of a black woman having a minimally invasive hysterectomy was about 50/50. And that's woefully behind the same patient that has a different skin color. And so, we're proud to say that we're now above 90% with the minimally invasive hysterectomy approaches here at Regional One. And there's been a few reasons for that.

Number one, we've talked about it as a team, with the other OB-GYN surgeons that I'm proud to work with. We've had some training, we've had some courses, and they also feel comfortable calling me to come down and help if they're stuck in a place instead of having to make a big open incision. And so, it's been multi-faceted, and yet everybody has bought into it, and the end results speak for themselves.

Host: Well, I'm sure you know all too well that patients with cancer or any condition that requires surgery can often be scared and overwhelmed. So, how do you approach patients and their families to provide that support and compassion that they're looking for?

Dr. John Schorge: My personal approach is to treat them like a family member. How would I want someone talking to my sister, my mother, my daughter, I have all three, and I would also want my sister to leave the clinic visit feeling like she knew what the diagnosis was, what the options were. I would want her to feel like she could communicate with the doctor. And so, I give every patient that I see my business card that has my personal email on it, and my personal cell phone on it, so that they can contact me if and when they're having a problem, or if they feel like they need to get through to me. I want to have that kind of personalized attention that they get the care that they deserve.

Host: Thanks for making One On One with Regional One Health part of your journey to better health. Join us next time as we introduce you to another member of the Regional One Health family. Dr. Schorge sees patients at our main campus in downtown Memphis and our east campus in East Memphis. For appointments downtown, call 901-515-3800. For appointments in East Memphis, call 901-515-3100.