Prepared for Life Education Drives Dr. Masharn Doanes Forward as a Leader in Thoracic Surgery

Dr. Masharn Doanes says he likes to be prepared, be it for a career change, a surgery, or simply a long New England winter.

“My philosophy is that life is preparation,” said Doanes, an Atlanta native. “So, do I like the snow and the ice up here? No, but I was prepared for it.”

Indeed, Doanes has already weathered his share of Nor’easters as a resident at Erie County Medical Center, part of the State University of New York in Buffalo. He’d also seen plenty of traffic back-ups on slushy roads in Boston while practicing as an associate staff surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, but chose to stay in the east to open his own practice anyway.

In January of this year, Doanes, a board-certified general surgeon specializing in cardiothoracic surgery, joined the staff at Holyoke Medical Center as part of its Medical Specialties division at 10 Hospital Dr. He said he considered building his own practice as the next step in a career that has included much training and education, which he now hopes to put to use.

“I thought building a practice was an exciting idea, and also a challenge,” he said. “Plus, HMC seemed eager to have a thoracic presence on campus, and that eagerness was inspiring.”

An Early Start

Doanes told The Healthcare News that he chose to focus on the thoracic aspect of cardiothoracic medicine in order to develop a particular expertise in that field. While at Brigham and Women’s, he perfected techniques in surgeries relating to the chest wall, esophagus, diaphragm, and lungs, including VATS (video-assisted thoracic surgery), mediastinoscopy (lymph node sampling in the chest), surgery for mesothelioma (asbestos-related tumors), lung resections, and laparoscopic foregut surgery, among others.

These specialties follow on the heels of a diverse professional education, that has also included family, community, and pediatric medicine — the discipline that first prompted Doanes’ interest in health care.

“My own pediatrician was instrumental in getting me interested in medicine,” he said. “I went to day care near his office when I was 6 or 7, and I used to just go hang out with him.”

Doanes later went on to pursue a degree in Chemistry at Emory University and a medical degree at Morehouse School of Medicine in 1993, earning some accolades along the way; in 2000, he was named the ‘Gold Star Resident of the Year.’

Professionally, he said his interests have always pointed him toward surgery as opposed to internal medicine, but as his experiences as a student, intern, and resident broadened, he became more intrigued by cardiothoracic surgery than anything else.

“Initially, I wanted to do pediatric surgery,” he said, “but I first volunteered at Grady Memorial Hospital — a 1,000-bed, municipal hospital in Atlanta — and in my third year of medical school, did a clerkship at Emory in cardiothoracic medicine. I liked the excitement of the thoracic patient, the ability to make a significant difference in their life.

“One case in particular, I remember I had never seen so much blood, but it got me thinking: in surgery, you see results early on,” he continued. “If you fix a problem, then it’s usually gone — not like high blood pressure or something like that, which never really goes away. That’s rewarding, but the best rewards are those patients who are very debilitated that make it, and walk out of the hospital.”

Course of Study

Doanes completed his surgical residency at SUNY Buffalo, where he was named chief resident in 2001, and his cardiothoracic surgery residency at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, before taking his former post at Brigham and Women’s.

“I’ve specialized in minimally-invasive surgeries, and that’s something I hope to do more of here,” said Doanes, adding, however, that there are hurdles to clear first in serving the Greater Holyoke community. “A lot of patients come in too late, and minimally invasive surgery is no longer an option. The community needs to be better educated, and there needs to be support, motivation, and follow-up care. In Boston, we might have seen and operated on 800 patients. Here, we might see 50 and operate on two or three.”

He said one goal he has for the practice is to increase that number of patients from 50 to 400, and to help create an atmosphere within the area that encourages people to seek diagnosis and treatment of thoracic issues sooner.

“Today, many people that come in are already in stage,” Doanes said of patients with cancerous conditions, “and the pace of people coming in at all is a little slow. My goal is to have a busy practice that will lead to a larger group of thoracic surgeons at HMC, who in turn can utilize skills from various institutions.”

At the Ready

As he continues to grow his practice with a strong emphasis on education — both his own and that of the community he serves — Doanes says he stays centered through time spent with his son, and perhaps a good game of golf.

The season is a bit shorter in New England than in his native Georgia, but the surgeon said he was ready for that.

“As long as the buses are still running, I’m OK,” he said. “Wherever I go, I go prepared.”