Doing research can sometimes be a full-time job, even for Beckman Institute faculty members who already have teaching and other duties. So how does a doctor who sees patients and performs surgery sometimes on a daily basis decide to add research to his list of duties?
For Dr. Huan (John) Wang, there was no other choice. Major life decisions for this neurosurgeon come not from his head but from his heart. They guided his switch from cardiology to neurosurgery in medical school, his choice of a spouse, and his decision to build a research line that is integrated with his practice.
“It’s not a decision,” Wang says with passion. “I did not have a choice. Sometimes you do certain things because it’s a logical decision. This has nothing to do with logic. This is something that I want to do, period. I don’t think whether this is practical, whether or not it’s logical, this is what I want to do.”
The decision in medical school came as two separate, unexpected realizations in the operating room.
“I started out wanting to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. The first time I tagged along with the cardiovascular team they opened the chest, and they encouraged me to hold the heart,” Wang said. “It did nothing for me. I felt nothing. I said ‘you know what? This is not for me.’ So then I was lost. I didn’t know what to do.”
Wang’s voice softens as he describes the epiphany he experienced during brain surgery.
“I was under the microscope looking at the brain and that moment did it,” he said. “That moment defined what my career choice was going to be because that mesmerized my entire being. Everything became so clear: this is it.”
The same was true with his choice of a spouse.
“I met my wife the same way. The moment I saw her, I knew she was going to be my wife,” Wang said.
“She never said she agrees with that,” he added with a laugh, “but she has been my wife for 18 years. You just happen to meet the right woman and you know it and there you go, 18 years already.