Dr Justin Chan - winner of the 2020 Marjorie Hooper Scholarship

For cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Justin Chan, winning the prestigious 2020 Marjorie Hooper Scholarship offered by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) was an “incredible opportunity”. It came at a time when he had just finished training in Cardiothoracic surgery at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and was looking at the next phase of his surgical career. “I was planning on sub-specialising in transplantation, but there was no cardiothoracic transplant service in South Australia. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) services at the time were nascent and ran as an ad-hoc service, shared between cardiothoracic surgery and ICU,” Dr Chan said. So, he turned his focus towards spending time at the Toronto General Hospital (TGH), one of the pioneering centres in lung transplant. He would go on to complete lung transplantation and general Thoracic surgery fellowships and work with noted cardiac surgeon, Dr Tirone David. The other key focus of his fellowships was working with Dr Marc de Perrot and Dr Laura Donahoe on the Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH) program. CTEPH is an uncommon condition, which can affect up to five per cent of patients after a pulmonary embolism. The surgery requires cardiopulmonary bypass as well as deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. “There are not many high volume centres for this operation in the world, so it was a great opportunity for me to work with world experts in this field, to do some research, as well as learn this operation,” he said.

At TGH, Dr Chan gained experience in complex thoracic surgery, pulmonary thromboendarterectomy, and ECMO—the latter of which became a huge focus as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It was in the middle of his fellowships. The pandemic changed Dr Chan’s career trajectory. Instead of returning to Australia, where incidentally, the hiring of surgeons was affected, he ended up at New York University working in their cardiothoracic transplant department. Today, as a cardiothoracic transplant surgeon and as the surgical director of the CTEPH program at NYU Langone, he has a busy schedule. He also runs the CTEPH program, which is growing in volume as awareness about the condition and the possible treatments increase. When not doing clinical work, Dr Chan tries to fit in research, mentoring and teaching students, residents, and Fellows.

He encourages anyone thinking about applying for a RACS scholarships to take the shot. “I would never be where I am today had it not been for seeing the email saying that the scholarship was open. The RACS scholarships are more than about the funding. The fact that you receive the scholarship provides the motivation to succeed.” Dr Chan’s current goal is to increase the awareness of CTEPH. “Surgery is incredibly effective but can only be done if the diagnosis is correctly made. I am looking at building a world class CTEPH program, which will incorporate all forms of treatment from surgery to balloon angioplasty and targeted medical therapies,” he said. Given his hectic and unpredictable schedules, work-life balance is something he struggles with at times. “Luckily, I have a wife who is very understanding,” he said. “It is not infrequent to return home (or leave for work) in the small hours of the morning. The unpredictability means that we have to be very flexible with our plans.” On weekends, the couple love exploring the city. “I’m grateful that I can spend a lot of our free time seeing different parts of the city and enjoying everything that it has to offer.”

Born and raised in Australia, Dr Chan hopes to return and use the skills and experience he has gained overseas for the benefit of the Australian public. He maintains links with the surgical community in Melbourne and Adelaide, and mentors Australian medical students and surgical residents through the long and difficult journey of surgical training. “I hope that my journey can serve as a role model for others with similar aspirations,” he said.

RACS offers more than 70 scholarships and grants valued at more than $2.5m annually through its Scholarships and Grants Program. To learn more, visit www.surgeons.org/scholarships