Rebel with a cause:
Duncan Turner, MD
Turner Medical Arts is on a wonderful journey.
I would like to take this opportunity to tell you where we have been as a basis of where we are now and intending to go.
It really goes back to my decision to become a doctor which occurred many moons ago at the age of 13. The first time I was able to view a surgery was in high school and I knew then I wanted to be a surgeon.
Today that is the part of my practice that intrigues me the most followed closely by the fascinating new revelations in Vaginal Rejuvenation and Sexual Health, hormonal replacement and aging.
I didn’t take the most direct route to becoming a surgeon as after I received my medical degree from the University of London, I got a little sidetracked by a foray into pediatrics (I did a year of pediatric residency in British Columbia mainly as a reason to get to the West Coast of North America) and then four years of general practice in the wilds of Vancouver Island before choosing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology in Denver, Colorado.
OBGYN is a wonderful specialty to be involved with as it combines many fascinating areas of medicine although it is primarily a surgical specialty. In 1978 I moved to Santa Barbara starting the practice that has become Turner Medical Arts. Initially this was a general OBGYN practice but by the mid 80s gynecology was at the forefront of laparoscopic or minimally invasive surgery development and that has been a priority of mine ever since.
There is really no gynecological operation that cannot be performed in a minimally invasive manner, the great benefit for the patient being much less pain post-operatively and a faster recovery (less than half the time of traditional surgery). In addition, the surgeon can see better and be more precise.
I am privileged to have been involved with the development of new technologies and new techniques focusing on safety and simplicity and also more sophisticated new technologies including robotics in surgery. This has allowed me the opportunity to rub shoulders with and operate with the best surgeons in the world, all over the world.
It is a tragedy to me that more gynecologists have not embraced the extent of laparoscopic surgery offering the distinct advantages to more of our patients.
Over the last few years, I have been assessing what I really believe women want from their gynecologist. Many women do not have any physician other than their gynecologist so we need to be able to treat the whole patient or at least be able to do all appropriate screening for problems and send the patient in the right direction.
This has all brought me to focus on hormones and sexual health to optimize total health. Our knowledge in these areas is rapidly expanding, challenging and changing many previously held beliefs giving us much more success in the treatment and prevention of disease.
So here we are with Turner Medical Arts, first and foremost remaining not only current in the progress of women’s health but a few steps above the curve providing new technologies in aging medicine hand in hand with the full spectrum of women’s health.
Duncan Turner, MD
