Don’t romanticise or glorify surgery. It’s a long and lonely road.

Never get tired of this. After multiple publications, book chapters and over 150 lectures written, my heart still smiles when I get this in my inbox. It’s because of the joy I get from…

New Operating Room #sustainability idea. Everything below the belly button is not sterile. So if we cut the lower half of the surgical gowns, we can use that bottom half as drape for the patient! We reduce the number of drapes, while we get to walk around in crop tops. What do you think?

Another talk for another conference. This time for medical students. Should I tell the truth or just the good bits?

I find it fascinating that most mature and intelligent people seem to have control over their words. The more intelligent or wise they are the more thoughtful is their speech. Have you noticed that the great orators of our time are also our global elders too. They speak to a higher value.

A decade ago I completed a Fellowship in Head & Neck, Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. I trained in major head and neck oncologic surgery, thyroids & parathyroids, microvascular reconstructive surgery and aesthetic reconstruction. It was by far the best year of my life professionally.

Here’s an X-ray of a toddler who swallowed a safety pin. Things I’ve retrieved from the throat and oesophagus of patients both paediatric and adults: leaves, plastic wrappers, seashell, Christmas ornaments, toys, dentures, barbecue bristles, screws, sewing needle,…

We’ll get up again. Aussies will always get up again with a laugh.

Oh come on!

Frustrating game for Australia but the Aussie spirit is a can-do spirit.

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE

Australia, who’s waking up early for the game tomorrow?

Jaw thrust on. Jaw thrust off. Jaw thrust on. Jaw thrust off. The most basic airway manoeuvre. This is an endoscopic view of a supine patient. Note the lingual tonsils obstructing the laryngeal inlet (did you know there’s something called lingual tonsils?). Jaw thrust opens the airway. #ENTsecrets

Mastoiditis is a clinical diagnosis not a radiological diagnosis. What the radiologist is describing is effusion in the mastoid, so a better term would be opacification of the mastoid.

6am International board meeting. Al day operating. 7pm Webinar. 372 emails in between.

You say reflecting pool, I say pseudomonas green. Tomato, tomatoes.

When I was in Canada, I was taught how to be a good and meticulous Microvascular Reconstructive Head & Neck Oncologic Surgeon, while my kids learned to be #Canadian. What’s the defining characteristic of a Canadian? #surgery #surgeon #ENTsecrets

This is a life & #leadership principle. Whether you’re leading a unit, a company, a sports team, a class or a church, you need to create an environment for growth. Otherwise talent will leave you. Do you know how to hire and grow talents?

My primary Fellowship Subspecialty training and my first love is Advanced Head & Neck Oncologic Surgery & Reconstructive Surgery. I love the opportunity to change the lives of patients with head & neck cancer. The Canadians taught me how to be a good Head & Neck Surgeon. #surgery #surgeon

So you want to be a surgeon? Those 5 extra years will turn into the most gruelling 17 years of training in a blink of an eye. Don’t romanticise surgery. It’s costly physically, mentally, emotionally, cognitively, socially and relationally.

I have visited Barcelona and Gaudi’s famous works of architecture. The #SagradaFamilia is truly breathtaking. He was obviously gifted, inspired, anointed. As a #surgeon, his words spoke deeply to me. He is a master craftsman, but his techniques are secondary to his primary love and passion.

Seeing all the images from #sagradafamilia reminded me of the time I visited it and I was truly left speechless. I had never seen such a breathtaking masterpiece of architecture. Thank you, #Gaudi

Seasons come and go. Each season comes with its own challenges. Some seasons require a lot of healing, rest and restoration. Others come with celebration and feasting. Still others demand death. Death to dreams. Death to preconceived plans. Death to ideals. Seasons come and go. Walk faithfully.

Medical school was more than 20 years ago. I can still list these unit subjects that we studied back then. Pretty sure there’s even more today. We packed so much into 4 years of study. And then I added another 10 more years of surgical training after that. #surgery #surgeon #medschool

One of my favourite places in the world: A beautiful library. Where else would you rather be? Be immersed in your own thoughts amongst a wall of books and breathing the air that is heavy with history. What’s your favourite place? #bibliothèquenationaledefrance #paris #france

Sinus is like love. It can mean a lot of different things to different people. In ENT, patients say “I’ve got the sinus, doc.”

I know. I know. I have a problem. I suffer from a condition called #tsundoku.

The training never ends. The sacrifices are unseen. The demands are relentless. The expectations are unceasing. What would you wish that people knew about surgery? #surgeon #surgery

Prepping for my next complex airway lecture. The audience is made up of critical care clinicians (Anaesthetists and other Airway intubators). What do you think I should include? #ENTsurgery #ENTsecrets #surgeons #anaesthesia #airway

This was a really refreshing conversation with my friend, author & psychologist Sharee Johnson who coaches doctors. We talked about life, humanity, medicine and all sorts. Do you want to know how I got into medicine and how im still surviving it? m.youtube.com/watch?v=SgZd...

I’ve been anxious about this meeting. It’s been on my calendar for some time. I took a good shower. I wore new clothes. I put on clean underwear. I made sure I smelled good. I was nervous. I came to the appointment early because I didn’t want to disappoint. My heart was pounding. I was seeing my GP.

@drericlevi.bsky.social It will raise money for Head and Neck Cancer Australia, which supported Farnham through a two-year battle with the disease. www.thenewdaily.com.au/life/enterta...

What has gotten me out of bed at 2am: slash tracheostomy in ICU, facial trauma in ED, deep neck space abscess in an infant, necrotising fasciitis of the neck in a toddler, carotid injury in a child, obstructing base of tongue cancer in an adult,

Some of our cases go for 6-8 hours. The longest case I’ve ever been involved in went for 16 hours. Cancer affects anyone no matter the age. I’ve operated on 3-month-old and 91-year-old with cancer. We spend a lot of time dissecting, excising, preserving and reconstructing.

Nosebleed is supremely common. It’s nearly always from a blood vessel from the floor to the wall (midline septum) of the nose. Everyone aims up. Wrong. Don’t cauterise or pinch high. Aim low. This is an endoscopic view of my son’s right nose when he was 7.

Get it right the first time.

If you spend 8 hours a night restless, unsettled, snoring, and having poor quality sleep, then your days will not start well. You and your child need to have a restful, rejuvenating sleep. As sleep surgeons, we look at the architecture and the melody of sleep.

Things change all the time. That’s why we never stop learning. If you’re doing the same thing the same way as 10 years ago, reflect, rethink, revise. I completed over 17 years of training and over 10,000 operations to do the complex work I do.

Another long conversation today with a family whose child has just been diagnosed with cancer. First conversation in clinic to plan the road ahead. How much time does the institution allow for conversations like this when there are numerous patients booked.

A question I get asked a lot. No simple answers. Definitely more than dexterity or skilful hands. A surgeon is not a proceduralist.

Children, even babies, get cancer too. It’s rare, but there is a reason why a few of us devote our lives to this. Little things matter. #surgery #surgeon #ENTsecrets

Not many people appreciate the intensity of head and neck surgery. One of the most beautiful operations we do is called a neck dissection where we remove all the lymph nodes, and leaving behind the intricate beauty of the muscles, vessels, nerves, bones and cartilages. #surgery #surgeon #ENTsecrets

Radiology. I can’t do what I do without my radiology colleagues. Their expertise guide my diagnosis, treatment plans and surgical strategy. Here’s a picture of my favourite #radiologists altogether in one room. #radiology.

Transoral Laser Microsurgery is a procedure involving removal of tumours or lesions through the mouth with the assistance of laser as a cutting instrument. Lots of special instruments, surgical technique and anaesthesia requirements.

Taken nearly half a century ago. My grandmother was a nurse and my mother was a psychologist. I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t because of the women in my life. My doctor wife and the best mother ever to our kids continue to change our world. #happymothersday❤️😘

Tumour (“tumor” if you’re American), comes from the Latin word tumor meaning growth or swelling. Tumour can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). When a doctor uses the word tumour, it does not specifically imply malignancy or non-malignancy. #surgery #surgeon

This study proves what many of us on the frontlines of health care intuitively know. Hospitals are not corporations. Applying corporate metrics to hospital operations does not necessarily translate into better outcomes. Clinicians are the key to hospital functions.

The new recruits for surgical waitlist reduction team have arrived. Do or do not. There is no try. #starwars #maythefourthbewithyou⚔️