Columbia Surgery

04/22/2026

Last year, the one and only Gianna Paniagua (), artist and two-time heart transplant recipient, took over our channel during Donate Life month. Here she introduced us to her world of papercutting.

From :
It’s simple- just you, some paper, a cutting mat, and scalpel-like blade. The repetition that exists in my life of always having tests or procedures to check on my transplanted heart finds itself onto the page with just those few simple items.

Papercutting is a meditation for me. It’s a concentration on the now, that leaves me with a physical object I can keep for the future. When all evidence of testing is wiped away clean, having evidence of something is precious.

Your body existed in a place and now you have proof: It’s a record of my sacrifice.

There are ways, whether you are a patient or provider, to make this combination of medicine and life fun. There’s always another thing on the schedule, so let’s create something out of these experiences.

04/21/2026

Most of what was happening in Rachel Ross’s body went unnamed for years.

She learned how to ‘manage,’ like many women do. To plan her days around proximity to a bathroom, and keep going, even when her body was asking her to stop.

By the time she was diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis, Rachel was incredibly sick.

There were hospitalizations, medications that worked until they didn’t, and one, finally, that brought her close enough to keep her colon, but not all the way to remission.

By complete chance, she heard about clinical trial. The BOOM-IBD2 trial uses a device placed under the skin, delivering small electrical pulses to the sacral nerve—part of a system that helps regulate the gut.

For Rachel, it was a no brainer, she wanted to join the trial. Changes were gradual, but when symptoms started to ease, the numbers followed. And then, for the first time, a colonoscopy showed no active inflammation.

“I’d never had that,” she said. “Ever.”

As a filmmaker, now she’s telling her story through her medium. The film “Good Girl Greta” traces what happens when a body is finally heard. If this story resonates, you can support Rachel’s film through the link shared at the end of her full story.

Link in bio.

04/16/2026

The Pitt season finale is tonight. So naturally, we’re revisiting:

〰️shocking a flatline on Grey’s Anatomy (still not how that works)
〰️Chicago Med’s “rules don’t apply to me” doctor
〰️intubation, but make it upside down on The Resident (bold choice, anatomically speaking)
〰️and yes… the dog that ate a transplant heart on One Tree Hill

Some shows get the drama right, and some get the medicine right. A rare few manage both. Link in bio to read our delightful and detailed analysis.

Do you have any favorite medical mistakes we missed? Want to defend your show? Feel the need to point out that actually, there WAS a dog featured on the Pitt? Let us know in the comments.

04/15/2026

“Surgical missions are evolving. It’s no longer just about performing surgeries and leaving—now it’s about teaching, mentoring, and building sustainable surgical capacity,” says Dr. Christine Rohde, chief of plastic surgery .

Dr. Rohde is the Research Co-Director for SHARE (Surgeons in Humanitarian Alliance for Reconstruction, Research, and Education), a Plastic Surgery Foundation initiative that seeks to enhance surgical collaboration worldwide.

As visiting professors, the SHARE teaching group delivers comprehensive training through lectures, simulations, and hands-on surgery. The work expands beyond the OR too. An emphasis on research, research training, and fostering a culture of local surgeon-led research in Sub-Saharan Africa is paramount. The recent graduation of Rwanda’s first class of plastic surgery residents marks a significant milestone, demonstrating the program’s transformative effect on healthcare in the region.

Scroll through to see photos from the microsurgery program in Kigali. Full interview with Dr. Rohde at link in bio! And stay tuned for a coming update about this powerful work.

04/14/2026

In this first episode of ‘From the Archives’ with head of Archives and Special Collections Katherine Satriano, we start in 1543 with Andreas Vesalius and a book that changed how we understand the human body.

At the time, anatomy was often taught by a lecturer reading from classical texts while someone else, like a barber surgeon, performed the dissection. Vesalius was really the first to do his own dissections and document what he actually observed.

The result was De Humani Corporis Fabrica and its companion, the Epitome (shown here), a shorter, more accessible version that was widely distributed and actively used. Interestingly, that wide use is part of why fewer copies of the Epitome survive today than the Fabrica.

Beyond the incredible illustrations, what stands out is its interactive design. The Epitome includes a flap system meant to be cut out and assembled into layered anatomical figures, making each copy unique depending on how it was used. Check out the incredible woodcut illustrations and learn more about the most iconic anatomical text of all time!

Drop your questions in the comments, and let us know what you want to see next.

04/10/2026

What if you could pre-plan your surgery down to the millimeter? Well that’s what the cleft and craniofacial team does every day, and it all starts with a single CT scan.

Plastic Surgeon Dr. Naikhoba Munabi shares how Virtual Surgical Planning (VSP) works by helping to personalize complex reconstructions, improve precision, and keep patients safer, especially in severe trauma and craniofacial cases.

04/09/2026

Much of what shapes a surgical outcome happens in the weeks before and weeks after the operation itself. In the slow, sometimes frustrating work of getting a body ready, and the questions that can pop up once someone is home.

As the first nurse practitioner in the country dedicated entirely to abdominal wall care, that’s where Tori Consalvo, NP, spends most of her time.

She works with patients across the full arc of their experience, from preparing for surgery and helping through recovery to staying close enough to answer any questions that come up. “I often work with people for months, and we go through a real journey together,” she says.

Read her interview at the link in bio.

04/08/2026

When it comes to liver transplant, advances in treatment aren’t happening in one place. They’re happening everywhere at once. In how we define death, how we preserve organs, who we decide is eligible, and how quickly we act when timing matters.

In this year’s State of the Union interview, Dr. Tomoaki Kato walks us through a field that is changing in cumulative ways.

More donation after cardiac death. Organs sustained, and tested, outside the body. Robotic living donation lowering the threshold for who can give. And oncology pushing transplant into spaces that, not long ago, didn’t exist.

While there’s a steady expansion of possibility, the harder questions about access, timing, and who still gets left behind, are front and center. He discusses the idea that recurrence isn’t always failure. That giving someone more time, however imperfect, can still be the right call.

And last but not least, xenotransplantion (using organs from another species to transplant into humans) is not that far away.

“Xeno will change everything. It will expand access, especially for oncology. It will change how fast we do things, who gets a liver, and for what disease. It will change the timing. It will change the whole field,” says .

Link in bio to read the full interview.

04/07/2026

04/06/2026

Organ donation, simply put, is the act of offering someone a second chance at life, but the ins and outs are often misunderstood.

So here’s a breakdown of how donation works, why living donors matter, and what’s changing in the OR—from robotic living liver transplants to bioreactive chambers that reanimate donor hearts.

🔗 Link in bio for the full article

04/03/2026

Did you know we have an organ anatomy coloring book? Keep the kids occupied and download a free PDF straight to your inbox — link in bio!

Don’t forget to share your art with us. 🖍️

04/02/2026

Do you know the difference between a symptom and a side effect? Is it as simple as it seems? Well, let’s see what Dr. Ajay Kirtane has to say about it.
.Ah, nuance. Gotta love it.