Dr. Chris Honey aka "HONEY" - Neurosurgeon at Vancouver General Hospital + Head of the Division of Neurosurgery whose passion is performing surgery beautifully by listening to his patients! Listen to how much a brain surgeon & aviator have in common

Dr. Chris Honey is the Professor and Head of Neurosurgery at the University of British Columbia. As well as being a distinguished surgeon and educator, Dr. Chris is also the Neurological Director of the Canadian Football League Players Association, an ex-Olympic diver, and the author of The Tenth Nerve, A Brain Surgeon's Stories of the Patients Who Changed Him. 

In this episode, you’ll hear from Dr. Honey on:

• (00:16:32) How aviation has influenced the culture of the operating room. He explains how surgical teams have adopted the aviation industry’s practice of improving safety standards by encouraging team members to speak up about potential errors and risks during surgical procedures. 

• (00:24:54) The link between happiness and goal setting. Dr. Chris reveals how achieving our goals triggers a dopamine release in the reward centers in our brains. Plus, he shares some of the goals he has successfully attained, such as discovering a new disease and curing it!

 

• (00:28:38) What his patients taught him about medicine. Chris explains how taking the time to listen to his patients and investigate the symptoms they described led him to diagnose and treat the first case of hemi-laryngopharyngeal spasm (HELPS syndrome). 

• (01:01:37) Sport and stress relief. As an enthusiastic soccer player, swimmer, and mountain biker, Chris reveals how participating in sports helps him cope with the stresses of his surgical career. He also recalls his experience of combining his Olympic diving practice with his medical studies.

• (01:10:27) The Tenth Nerve. Dr. Honey points out that the title of his book refers to the vagus nerve, the tenth cranial nerve that sends information back and forward between the brain and the body and controls the movement of the gut, the voice box, and the muscles of the throat.