Surgeons Launch Gourd Attack Because They Like To Cut Things

PHOENIX, Oct. 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- They arrived early this morning with daggers, scalpels, drills, knives and even a heartless cold-blooded robot.

With only 30 minutes to do their worst, world-renowned surgeons at Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, which includes Barrow Neurological Institute and Norton Thoracic Institute, were let out of the operating rooms in Phoenix just long enough to showcase their cutting talents at this year's annual Doc-O-Lantern Pumpkin Carving Contest.

Nearly a dozen surgeons sliced and diced at helpless pumpkins to create scary Halloween masterpieces before a roaring crowd outside the hospital's main entrance. While previous years have seen surgeons carve using everything from operating room tools, to a blow torch, to a chain saw, this year brought a new level of sophisticated horror, with thoracic surgeon, Samad Hashimi, MD, attacking his gourd with a surgical robot called the "Da Vinci."  The Da Vinci is a FDA-approved (for humans) state-of-the-art robot with four arms designed for minimally invasive surgeries.

Dr. Hashimi clearly had the mechanical upper hand with the high-tech sculpting.  But in the end, it was old-fashioned slicing that brought victory. This year's winner was carved by Ronald Gagliano, MD, a colon and rectal surgeon, who slashed a hair-raising interpretation of pumpkin-Dr. Seymore Butt performing a gourd colonoscopy to steal the trophy from last year's champion, Jeffrey Sugimoto, MD., who had created a horrifying vegetarian Alien.

"I decided to carve this pumpkin today to remind everyone that they need to help to manage their own wellness," said Dr. Gagliano.  "Having a simple colonoscopy is one of the smartest steps anyone can take to stay healthy. "

About St. Joseph's:
Located in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona, Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center is a 547-bed, not-for-profit hospital. St. Joseph's is a nationally recognized center for quality tertiary care, medical education and research. It includes the internationally renowned Barrow Neurological Institute, Norton Thoracic Institute and the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center.

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SOURCE St. Joseph's Hospital