70. A National Survey of Occupational Musculoskeletal Injuries in Cardiothoracic Surgeons

Dr. Maddaus has had three careers during his 68 years of living:

The first was as a dedicated, and very successful, juvenile delinquent. He grew up as an only child with a violent alcoholic step-father and an alcoholic, suicidal mother living in cockroach infested apartments. From age 13 he spent most of his time on the streets stealing cars, breaking into places, and getting high. After the 25^th arrest and 5 reform school stints, he joined the Navy to avoid going to prison.

After, he decided to switch careers, so he obtained his GED and with a monumental effort ended up being accepted to the University of Minnesota Medical School. He graduated in 1982 with honors and then went on to the general surgery residency at the University of Minnesota from 1982 -1990, and then to thoracic surgery training at the University of Toronto from 1990-1992. He joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota in 1992 where he remained until his retirement in 2012. During that time he rose to full professor and head of the Division of Thoracic Surgery, and he held the Garamella endowed chair in thoracic surgery and was the director of the general surgical residency training program.

His third career is in the field of personal resilience born of his first career and of his experience with burnout and prescription narcotic addiction following major back and hip surgeries. Since his retirement, he has studied resilience and trained at meditation retreats, self-compassion retreats, and trained as a teacher of self-compassion. He has encapsulated his experience into a concept he calls The Resilience Bank Account, which is a set of 9 habits that are backed by strong science, that lead to physical and mental wellbeing and foster the reserves to manage the inevitable vicissitudes and challenges of all of our lives. His academic paper – The Resilience Bank Account, Skills for Optimal Performance – was published in January of 2020 in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Camille Mathey-Andrews is a second year research resident at Massachusetts General Hospital interested in general thoracic surgery and thoracic oncology.