Growing up with a father who was a dentist, Dr. Randall Zuckerman was no stranger to the world of medicine, but instead of following in his father's footsteps he decided to pursue a career in teaching. Then an adventurous job as a rock climbing instructor in Wyoming changed the entire course of his life.
“I wasn't one of those kids who always said he wanted to be a doctor,” Dr. Zuckerman said. “I thought I'd be an English teacher. The one thing I knew is I wanted to have a job where I could make the world a better place.”
In his pursuit to become a teacher he graduated from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. That career course changed when he was in training to become a rock climbing instructor with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). It was during that training that he was introduced to wilderness first aid.
“I really liked learning the first aid,” Dr. Zuckerman said. The first aid course sparked a new interest in him - a possible career in medicine.
The Connecticut native went on to earn his doctorate's degree from the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire. That was followed by a residency in general surgery at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York, followed by a fellowship in liver surgery at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
“What I like about surgery is often you are posed with a problem and it is up to the surgeon to find a solution to that problem,” Dr. Zuckerman said. “The work is never the same. I like working with the patients and I like the challenge.”
Dr. Zuckerman joined North Country Surgical Associates at North Country Hospital in Newport in August joining veteran surgeons Drs. Larry Sisson and Mark Meredith.
“We are very happy to welcome Dr. Zuckerman to our very busy practice,” Linda Quarmby said. “He is great with the patients and with a third surgeon on board to take call it has help immensely with Dr. Sisson and Meredith's workload. He is enjoying keeping busy.” Linda is office manager for the practice.
Dr. Zuckerman comes to North Country with a wealth of surgical experience, including in the highly specialized fields of liver and pancreatic surgery. Before coming to North Country he was an attending surgeon, and co-director, at the Mithoefer Center for Rural Surgery at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York. In addition he served as an assistant clinical professor of surgery at Columbia University. The last position he held before coming to North Country was as an attending surgeon at the Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven, Connecticut.
The doctor and his wife, Jennifer, are the parents of four children. While he enjoyed the fast paced life often associated with large hospitals, Dr. Zuckerman said it was time to find a smaller, more rural hospital to work.
“Many of the larger hospitals have every resource known to man,” he said. However many of those hospitals are often impersonal compared to what you often find in small hospitals.” In coming to North Country, Dr. Zuckerman said he has the best of both worlds.
“North Country has a terrific team,” he said. And he is impressed that although a small hospital, North Country is blessed with a surgical department with state-of-the-art medical equipment often only found in larger hospitals. He is also impressed with the members of the surgical team.
“It's a terrific team,” he said. “Everybody works really well together.” As important, he said it is obvious that the number one concern of the team members is the patients they serve, a priority he very much appreciates.
“This part of New England is pretty spectacular,” he said. As a skier he is excited that he now works in a community with a ski area as outstanding as Jay Peak so close by.
So what would Dr. Zuckerman be doing today if he hadn't decided to teach rock climbing and been introduced to wilderness first aid? Nobody will ever know. One thing is for sure though, is that North Country is fortunate to have him join its surgical team.