Clinical Challenges in Surgical Education: A Diver, Photographer, and a Chef Walk into an OR

Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

Science, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Education

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Step outside the operating room with us to explore the art, creativity, and humanism that shape a surgeon’s life beyond medicine. Our guest Dr. Adnan Alseidi is not only a renowned hepatobiliary surgeon and surgical educator, but also an avid diver, photographer, and chef. Dr. Alseidi takes us from World War 2 shipwrecks to his restaurants around the world, reflecting on the fragility of humanity revealed in the oceans and moments of connection simmering in the kitchen. Along the way, he shares how creativity, service, and humility fuel his passions and his practice.

Join hosts Pooja Varman, MD, Judith French, PhD, and Jeremy Lipman, MD, MHPE, for this inspiring conversation about finding joy and connection in and beyond surgical practice.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this episode, listeners will be able to
1. Describe the ways in which creative pursuits can deepen a surgeon’s perspective on medicine and life.
2. Identify parallels between artistry and surgery, including precision, patience, and respect for human fragility.
3. Discuss strategies for maintaining balance and encouraging trainees to integrate creativity into their professional identities.

References

1. Executive Leadership Program in Health Policy and Management at Brandeis University, sponsored by the American College of Surgeons and several co-sponsoring organizations.
2. The Book of Joy, by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, and Douglas Carlton Abrams
3. Dr. Alseidi’s Wildlife Photography

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Behind the Night, THE SURGY Poges,
0:09.0	Relevant and Engaging Content designed to help you dominate the day. Hello and welcome to this episode of Behind the Knife in Surgical Education.
0:27.3	We are the General Surgery Education team from Cleveland Clinic.
0:30.9	I'm Pugivarman, a general surgery resident and surgical education research fellow.
0:35.4	I'm Judith French. I'm the Ph.D. education scientist. We're the Department of General Surgery at Cleveland Clinic. I'm Jeremy Liman. I'm Judith French. I'm the PhD education scientist
0:38.0	for the Department of General Surgery at Cleveland Clinic. I'm Jeremy Lippman. I'm the
0:41.5	D.I.O. for Cleveland Clinic. On today's episode, we're stepping beyond the operating room to
0:47.3	explore the art outside of surgery. Our guest is a surgeon whose life extends well beyond medicine.
0:53.6	He's also a chef, photographer,
0:55.9	and diver, and we'll discuss how creativity, humanism, and artistry intersect with surgery
1:01.6	and what lessons we can draw from pursuing passions beyond the OR. Dr. Adnan Al-Saddy attended
1:08.0	Penn State for medical school and completed general surgery residency at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
1:14.2	He completed a fellowship in hepatobiliary pancreatic and advanced gastrointestinal surgery at Washington University in St. Louis, as well as a master's in surgical education and an NBA.
1:26.8	He has served in the U.S. Navy and was former president
1:30.3	of the Association for Surgical Education. While his accomplishments as a surgical oncologist
1:35.8	and surgeon educator are impressive, we're excited to dive even deeper with him today. Welcome, Dr. Al-Sadie.
1:43.5	Thank you so much, and it's an honor to be here.
1:45.8	Really a privilege and thank you for inviting me. So first off, I honestly couldn't find much
1:51.9	about your creative endeavors online, but I've heard through word of mouth that you're a photographer,
1:58.3	a chef, and a diver. So I'd like to start by asking you a little bit more about your photography.
2:04.6	So can you tell us when you started taking photos?
2:07.6	Well, that was a kind of a consequence of the diving, if you will.
	...

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