Dr. Michael Litrel on Why He a Pelvic Reconstructive & Cosmetic Surgeon - Part 2

Of all the specialties you could have chosen, why did you choose obstetrics and gynecology?

I was quite surprised myself that I chose OB/GYN. I really hadn’t thought of it as a specialty before I attended medical school because I was more inclined towards surgery. However, when I delivered my first baby, it was such a miraculous moment in my life. It was 3:00 in the morning, and I remember it distinctly. I was in awe that this child actually came from a woman’s body. Ten seconds later, as I was placing that baby into that little infant warmer, I realized that I wanted to participate in this miracle; that I was going to be an obstetrician. It was a profound moment for me, and I can’t begin to express how much great personal satisfaction and enjoyment I’ve received over the years by taking care of women and women’s issues.

If you decided to retire tomorrow, what would you do?

Do you mean if I stopped practicing medicine? Well, I love what I do so as long as I’m healthy enough to keep doing it, I don’t really want to retire unless I absolutely have to. If anything, as I get older, I’ve become a better surgeon so I’d like to continue for as long as possible.

My other passion would be writing and speaking about the relationship between health and spirituality, something that’s very important to me. That’s one of the reasons I was drawn to the care of women and their health—because what life event could possibly be more spiritual and meaningful than the birth of a child?

I chose to specialize in surgical gynecology because human beings grow inside of a woman’s body, and sometimes you need a surgeon that can bring them safely into the world. I enjoy it, not only for the concrete aspects of surgery, but also for the deep spiritual meaning of this process known as the creation of a life.

We can clinically describe how a single cell turns into a newborn baby over 280 days, but the process itself is miraculous. It’s a testimony to the fact that our lives have deep purpose and deep meaning, and that God grants us life.

If you were to write another book, what topic would you choose?

As it happens, I’m currently working on a book on pelvic reconstructive surgery, but I’m also tying it in with the correlation between health and spirituality. Women not only endure suffering and damage to their bodies, but also to their souls. We all do. So the book I’m writing expands on that subject.

Women have unique human problems because of the nature of creating new life inside their bodies, and there’s suffering that comes from that process. So from that perspective, I’m writing about the nature of surgery in terms of when to have it and when not to have it. I’m also writing about the nature of health since health is not only about the physical but about the sexual and spiritual aspects as well.

I’d like to educate patients on the fact that we’re not human beings having spiritual problems, but that we’re spiritual beings having human problems. These human problems we all sometimes have call for the attention of a surgeon.

Read more of part two of the interview.

Read part one of the interview.