PRO CONNECT
Dr. Geissinger received his medical degree from Northwestern University in Chicago. With his postgraduate training temporarily interrupted during the Vietnam conflict, he served in the U.S. Air Force as a general surgeon. He then returned to Northwestern to complete a residency program in neurological surgery, which included one year of medical neurology at the University of Iowa. Geissinger then practiced his specialty for over 20 years in Tallahassee, Florida, during which time he was also the primary author of a number of scientific papers and book reviews published in the neurological literature.
At the peak of his career as a surgeon an accidental needle puncture in the operating room infected him with hepatitis B; thereby, prematurely forcing him to give up neurosurgery. This diverted the doctor to the pursuit of another challenging career—cattle ranching, a second childhood dream. Finally, when later approaching the retirement years, his lifelong passion of woodworking became refined to that of an artisan of museum quality furniture.
Geissinger's accomplished medical career was honored in 2012 when he received the prestigious I. B. Harrison award from the Capital Medical Society of Florida. Despite life’s adversities, his achievement of excellence in the fields of medicine, agriculture and art was recognized by his being profiled in the exclusive Tallahassee Magazine (Sept/Oct 2013). The article was entitled: Dr. Jim Geissinger? Renaissance Man of Tallahassee and a Regional Pioneer of Neurosurgery.
Dr. Geissinger and his wife, Elaine, live happily in North Florida, and enjoy time together at their bayside home on beautiful St. George Island.
“Geissinger’s memoir appeals on several levels: Medical students will likely find the advice useful, while readers with an interest in neurosurgery will appreciate the book’s focus on pioneering methods”
– Kirkus Reviews
In his debut memoir, a retired neurosurgeon reflects on medical history, his varied career and personal matters.
Geissinger, schooled in the third generation of neurosurgery, came of age in the mid-1950s. His long, often arduous journey led to his successful practice and eventual teaching of neurosurgery. Here, the author is firmly entrenched in the past, and his appreciation of his field’s pioneers is reflected both in the book’s content and tone. The first half of the title is filled with numerous case histories, many of which depict the conditions and procedures during the discipline’s nascent stages. These early practitioners gave the author his healthy perspective on success—something, he maintains, that could benefit modern medical students. The second half of the book veers off its presumed course, when illness pushes Geissinger out of medicine and into careers as a rancher and furniture maker. Eventually, an opportunity arises to reconnect with medicine, this time as an instructor. Geissinger’s memoir appeals on several levels: Medical students will likely find the advice useful, while readers with an interest in neurosurgery will appreciate the book’s focus on pioneering methods. The author’s retired peers will likely relate to stories set during the “golden years.” Furthermore, his approach to this memoir is emblematic of the neurosurgery profession itself: meticulous and sharply compartmentalized. Geissinger painstakingly recounts his many endeavors, including time spent at a ranch “intensely studying the premier bulls to be auctioned off on [a] Saturday morning.” Patient anecdotes, however, would have been much more accessible if indexed by conditions and treatment.
Valuable for medical school students as well as general memoir fans.
Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2011
ISBN: 978-0984741809
Page count: 404pp
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2012
Favorite author
Sir William Osler
Favorite book
Harvey Cushing, A Life In Surgery
Favorite line from a book
" Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them"- Henry David Thoreau
Favorite word
empathy
Passion in life
The wonderful outdoors of the woods, the mountains and the sea
Unexpected skill or talent
writing
Dr. Jim Geissinger, Renaissance Man of Tallahassee and a Regional Pioneer of Neurosurgery, 2013
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