Dr. Stephen Saxe: My experience treating victims of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting and thoughts on taking trauma call as a private practice doc

Today’s guest, Dr. Stephen Saxe, was the 19th oral surgeon in Nevada! During his career, Stephen has had to deal with more trauma than most oral surgeons ever will, as he was one of the surgeons on call after the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. In this episode, you’ll hear about some of the physical and emotional trauma that he witnessed firsthand during the aftermath of that tragedy. Stephen is a firm believer that being an oral surgeon is about a lot more than simply removing impacted molars; it’s about maintaining a presence in one’s community, and in order to do that, oral surgeons should be doing things like responding to trauma call and imparting knowledge onto the next generation of oral surgeons. In today’s episode you’ll gain insights into what Stephen’s professional life consists of, and the journey he took to get to this point. His passion for his work is palpable and he shares advice that all oral surgeons will benefit greatly from hearing. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• A brief rundown of Stephen’s educational and professional background. 
• Stephen’s experience of opening his own practice right after university, and why that likely wouldn’t be the experience of an oral surgeon starting out today.
• The 2017 Las Vegas shooting, and Stephen’s involvement in the aftermath. 
• Examples of wounds that Stephen saw the day after the shooting.
• Huge amounts of emotion that Stephen had to deal with when speaking to the families of the victims.
• How the profession of oral surgery has evolved over the years.
• Stephen’s opinion on private practice doctors taking trauma call. 
• What Stephen thinks the future holds for single operator anaesthesia. 
• Career paths that Stephen’s three children have taken. 
• How Stephen structured his days when his children were young. 
• The dental school work that Stephen now does in the afternoon, and why he finds this work so fulfilling.
• Stephen’s unusual hobby.
• Additional stress that residents are now having to deal with because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tweetables:

“There was so much personalization that was necessary in order to communicate. You had to put yourself in their shoes. I was emotionally exhausted from it.” — Dr. Stephen Saxe [0:13:49]

“Taking call has this socioeconomic facet where we have to maintain our presence in our community as doctors, not just dentists.” — Dr. Stephen Saxe [0:18:14]

“It’s important that all of us, in our own way, maintain some kind of connection to the profession outside the doors of our office.” — Dr. Stephen Saxe [0:34:44]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Stephen Saxe — https://www.nvjawdoc.com/ 

Dr. Grant Stucki Email — grantstucki@gmail.com

Dr. Grant Stucki Phone — 720 441 6059