In this episode of UTSW Unscripted, neurosurgeon Dr. Toral Patel shares the personal and professional journey that shaped her path to medicine. She reflects on the profound highs and heartbreaking moments of caring for patients with brain tumors, and the gratitude that keeps her grounded. Dr. Patel also opens up about balancing life as a physician, wife, and mom, offering an honest glimpse into the humanity behind her work.
Doctor Toro Patel unscripted. Doctor Patel, tell me your story. I have heard a lot that, oh, you don't look like a neurosurgeon or you don't behave like a neurosurgeon. And, um, and I hope that that is. A sign of um times that are changing. From a very young age, I always knew I wanted to be a doctor. I grew up in a really loving family. My parents came from India in the 70s and education was really prioritized in my home. I heard as a small child a lot about the importance of service and giving back. Mom and dad both worked in excess of 60 hours a week and often 70, 80 hours a week with the idea that the sacrifice that they would make of their time would translate to our success later. All three of us ended up as physicians, the 3 kids, and, um, when people ask about it, I say, well, it's just, you know, good parental brainwashing. But I think that we all probably were inspired by um our parents' hard work, our parents' dedication. My sister is the oldest and she's a high risk OB and works at UT Southwestern and my brother is the youngest and also specializes in brain tumors and also at UT Southwestern and so we're partners. UT Southwestern is a special place to practice medicine because the people who are here really feel committed to the patient. The highs in neurosurgery are almost undescribable. You can restore someone's sight. You can cure them of their seizures. You can take a tumor out of their brain that is imminently life threatening and everybody who's diagnosed with a brain tumor automatically thinks that they're going to die, of course, you know that is a. Uh, just a shocking term. And so to take somebody from that state and then through technical skill, give them an excellent outcome and, and tell them you're going to live a normal life here forward, that is, I mean that is just a blessing. I met my husband in sort of a Grey's Anatomy way, unfortunately. My husband was in the beginning of his residency and I was at the end of my medical school and I was on a rotation and he happened to be the junior resident and he wants the record to show that we didn't date while I was on service and we didn't, but yeah, we met in the hospital. What has it been like being married to a fellow physician and how has that affected your relationship? If I have a late case or an emergency, I have a lot of comfort in knowing that I never have to explain that to my husband. He understands and we give each other a lot of grace there. It is challenging to manage two physician schedules, and it's challenging to manage that with young children also. My oldest is 8 and then the younger two are 5. Weekends are really precious time. We'll have bagels as a family. That's a definite Saturday tradition, and sometimes we'll go down to the lake and they're picking up, uh, glass shards from the shoreline which they think is sea glass. We don't tell them they're beer bottles, but it's fine. How has your job affected the way you look at life? You really take each day for the blessing that it is and and have more gratitude. Nearly every week, if not more often, I'm telling somebody that they have a terminal brain cancer. And It's humbling and And emotional every time for you, the physician, you've delivered this message hundreds, maybe thousands of times for that patient that's the single worst moment of their life to put yourself in that position and to understand that every time is important, every single time and so yeah, I'm a big hugger and I think that it builds almost instantly a huge amount of trust and so I try very hard to. Um, think about the patient that I'm treating as a unit, not just the patient in front of me, but their whole family, and to make sure that I can help them through the journey because they're going to be left here on, on this earth, even after their loved one is gone. And in my wildest sort of hopes, I think if there's a young person in that room who is seeing a loved one, a family member, suffer from some disease and pass from it, that perhaps they'll be inspired to. Study it and to come up with better treatments in the future and so perhaps your impact as a physician isn't just to that patient but to future generations. Doctor Patel, if you could share one piece of advice with your younger self at the start of your career, what would it be? I would tell my younger self that this is a marathon, not a sprint, but the journey is going to be so fun and you're going to learn so much about not only other people and humanity, but also yourself.
