Zeroing in on Spine
Although he was intrigued by many subspecialties, he soon zeroed in on spine. “I just fell in love with the subspecialty because at the time, so little was known about spine care. One of my mentors at Rothman, a spine surgeon named Rich Balderston told me, ‘If you want to become a spine surgeon then we’ll support you.’ I was only a second-year resident and doors were already opening for me.”
Dr. Albert on Dr. Rothman: “One of the things that stood out about Dick Rothman was that he treated everyone so well. He was just like a good friend—never judgmental and constantly supportive. He was very generous with his time and his connections, regardless of one’s age or station in life. I will never forget how he would frequently nab me in the hallway and say, ‘Come to this meeting with me. It will be good for you.’ It was during that time when I first met the president of the university and other individuals in decision making positions.”
“Jefferson had an extremely busy spinal cord injury center, so I had great exposure to a lot of trauma. I had a growing interest in cervical spine and went headlong into it academically and clinically.”
What grabbed Dr. Albert about the cervical spine? “It’s the complexity of the intersection of neural anatomy and the pathology, as well as the fact that no matter how complex or dangerous it is, if it goes well, then the patients recover so quickly. This is in stark contrast to the lumbar spine and thoracolumbar deformity.”
“With cervical spine issues, surgeries can be accomplished on an outpatient basis or with a very short stay. If someone has a complication, of course, then that can be devastating. Overall, cervical spine is almost like the sports medicine of spine. We don’t ruin the patient’s normal anatomy and they feel good after the surgery.”
Albert’s Minnesota Connection
Dr. Albert’s mentors at Jefferson offered three suggestions when it came to a fellowship. “They pointed me toward the University of California – San Diego (UCSD), the Bohlman program at Case Western, and the Minnesota Spine Center. While I would have gained so much from the iconic Bohlman program and UCSD, I turned them down because the Minnesota program was tackling unusually complicated deformity cases, including revision scoliosis cases. I wanted that level of complexity so that I would be ready for anything.”
To enhance his leadership development just after returning to Thomas Jefferson University and The Rothman Institute in 1993, Albert participated in a five-week North American Travelling Fellowship sponsored by the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA). “Our group visited Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, the Carolinas, and Miami. I believe so much in this program that I have personally donated funds to it. Surgeons who participate in this program during their formative career years gain immeasurable value from the contacts and friendships that they would not otherwise have an opportunity to develop.”
Eventually named Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics at Thomas Jefferson University Medical College in Philadelphia, in 2006, Dr. Albert would go on to be named the Richard Rothman Chair of Orthopaedics. “My time in that role was very instrumental in my development as a leader. When I began, I didn’t completely understand the importance of caring more about the people you are leading than you care about yourself.”
“I also held the naïve belief that people just inherently care about the group. And being patient with that was something I had to learn.”
“Of all the great accomplishments our team was able to achieve at Rothman Institute during my tenure, I am most proud of our tremendous growth from 30 surgeons to over 100 practitioners while maintaining surgical excellence and our culture of academic pursuits (a leading NIH funded lab and a point system for measuring academic contribution). We developed two orthopedic hospitals and multiple ASC’s [ambulatory surgery centers]. All this while growing a culture of team and a group mentality.”
Transitioning to be Surgeon in Chief at HSS in 2014, Albert continued on his quest to build a historically independent group of very talented surgeons into a unified team. “We grew from approximately 70 surgeons to 120 and nearly doubled the revenue of the institution during my five-year tenure. We also created a unique alliance between the hospital and 80 surgeons called HS2 whereby the surgeons and institution share in the benefit of the institution’s out of market growth by participating in quality improvement and recruitment.”
During his tenure leading HSS, Albert oversaw development of two Ambulatory Surgery Centers and maintained HSS’s number one ranking in US News and World Reports as well as the #1 ranking for residencies (Doximity).
