Getting to Know You: James Parker, MD
November 25, 2024
James Parker, MD, joined TMH Physician Partners – General Surgery in 2023, focusing on minimally-invasive and robot-assisted procedures. A Trinity School of Medicine graduate, Dr. Parker completed his surgical training at Mercer University in Macon, GA, then did a fellowship with specialized training in Minimally Invasive Surgery at Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City. He resides in Tallahassee with his wife, Lynndsey Parker, MD, and three young children.
Dr. Parker performs a variety of minimally invasive procedures, including:
- Anti-reflux surgery
- Bariatric surgery
- Simple and complex hernia surgery (umbilical, inguinal, ventral, hiatal)
- Natural orifice specimen extraction colectomy
- Robot-assisted cholecystectomy and appendectomy
We sat down with Dr. Parker to learn more about why he pursued a career in medicine, his journey to Tallahassee and his approach to patient care in our Q&A below.
1. Can you share your background and what inspired you to pursue a medical career?
Dr. Parker: I'm the first person in my family to get a four-year degree, and the only physician. My dad always wanted to be a doctor but ended up going a different route and encouraged me to be one. I always wanted to do the hardest thing in the world, and for me, that was surgery.
In 2009, the summer before my senior year of college, I met an EMT and told him I wanted to be a surgeon. He told me that I'd need to be good at video games to be a surgeon in the future. So, I bought an Xbox and played video games – my favorite being Halo 3. My grades actually improved after I bought one!
I went to medical school in the Caribbean, did well and made some great connections. I matched with a surgical residency, which is typically hard to do, coming from school in the Caribbean. I was also one of the top test takers in my residency and got into one of the hardest surgical fellowships.
2. What was it like going to medical school in the Caribbean?
Dr. Parker: It was a lot of fun. I could study on the beach and maximize my three-day breaks between exams, which gave me a great balance between enjoying life and studying.
3. What challenges did you face early in your medical career, and how did you overcome them?
Dr. Parker: Becoming a surgical resident was difficult – it's a competitive specialty with fewer available spots. Once I became an attendant, the most challenging part was meeting fellow medical providers and marketing myself so people knew I existed.
4. Why did you decide to focus on robot-assisted surgeries?
Dr. Parker: I initially didn't want anything to do with robotic surgery. I always envisioned doing surgery through a 'maximal, save-the-world' type approach. Once I finally tried surgery on the robot, though, I was naturally good at it since I played many video games. It gave me a lot of autonomy in residency and allowed me to do many procedures other residents couldn't do since it came easily to me.
I've always wanted to do the hardest thing in the world. I became more interested once I learned using the robot accomplished that by performing the biggest surgeries through the smallest incisions.
5. How has your medical philosophy or approach to patient care evolved over the years?
Dr. Parker: The longer we [physicians] do this, the less we can rely on the textbook to give us the answers. No two patients are the same, and not every patient will come in reciting the exact symptoms listed in the books we learn from. Piecing their symptoms together to know what's wrong is the best way to approach patient care. I listen to all my patients and treat them like my family. I use a mixture of common sense and thinking outside of the box to diagnose their issues.
6. Is being a surgeon different than you imagined it would be?
Dr. Parker: I didn't know what to expect before becoming a surgeon – you're a career student when you start in medicine, and I didn't know anyone in this field growing up. There are some subtle differences from what I thought it'd be like; for instance, I don't play as much golf as I hoped.
7. Were you ever worried it wasn't the best path for you during medical school and residency?
Dr. Parker: No, I don't regret anything and wouldn't change my decision.
8. What is the most exciting medical advancement you've seen recently, and how has it changed your clinical practice?
Dr. Parker: Using robotic surgical systems, obviously. The robot allows us to perform surgery using movements similar to those used to do with open surgery, more than laparoscopic surgery. Robot-assisted surgery is a version of laparoscopic surgery. Still, with laparoscopic, you use straight sticks and don't have the same wrist movements as you do in open surgery and robot-assisted surgery. Simple maneuvers like tying off appendices feel more like they do with open surgery than laparoscopic, so it's a paradigm shift back to the old-school way of doing things.
9. What role will artificial intelligence and machine learning play in your specialty in the next decade? Are there any artificial intelligence (AI) tools you currently use in your practice?
Dr. Parker: I don't think there would be a time when a robot could take over being a surgeon. A recent article discussed how a robot watched and replicated a surgery. Still, there are so many factors involved, especially in revisional surgery, that a robot could not replicate and decide in the moment.
With the new da Vinci Surgical System, an AI tool analyzes data from your previous 20 procedures. It shows how you can improve your motion to direct it elsewhere, decreasing surgery time, pain and recovery for patients. I think that will help us become better surgeons overall.
We also have a system that allows us to plug in the co-morbidities of bariatric patients to see their percentage chances of certain complications in weight loss surgery with each procedure type (sleeve or bypass), which can help us determine the best procedure to use.
10. What advice would you give young physicians or medical students starting in your specialty?
Dr. Parker: The same advice that I received: get an Xbox.
No, I think with surgery, you need to make sure you love it and can't imagine yourself doing anything else. The pathway to becoming a surgeon is long and grueling; you'll be in the hospital and miss a lot of life. The programs are challenging to get through, and most residents burn out from the amount of information they learn in a short time. You must be sure your heart is in it.
11. What's your favorite thing about working at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare?
Dr. Parker: Probably the people – I love every person we work with. The OR staff is excellent! The other surgeons I work with have great comradery; everyone is looking out for each other, and you can ask for help, and anyone would be happy to assist. That teamwork goes a long way in terms of quality of life and loving what you do. TMH also has a very well-rounded program that really helps with work-life balance.
12. What is your favorite restaurant in Tallahassee?
Dr. Parker: Il Lusso or Pedro's
13. What is your favorite thing about Tallahassee?
Dr. Parker: Every weekend we've been going to a lot of kids' birthday parties, so having a big community of parents with young kids has been great. There's always something to do in Tallahassee, so getting out and doing things with the kids is easy. It's also pretty close to other big cities, Disney and the beach, so going on a quick trip is easy.
14. What's one thing you want your patients to know about you?
Dr. Parker: I'm very good at using common sense to make medical decisions. Any decision I make, I think, "What would I do if this was my own mother or sister?" I always treat my patients respectfully and as if they were my family. It's a collaborative effort between me and the patient to decide on the best way to move forward, whether that includes surgery or not.
Dr. Parker is accepting new patients at TMH Physician Partners – General Surgery.
