Provider spotlight: colon and rectal surgeon Drew Gunnells, M.D.
Q: How or why did you choose this career?
A: I fell in love with surgery while working as an operating room assistant during college. My job was to help move patients and clean rooms, but occasionally I got to scrub in on cases to help with retraction (holding cuts open during surgery). The chance to help potentially cure someone of a disease through surgery was fascinating to me.
Q: What is the most challenging part of your job?
A: Walking patients through inoperable problems. As a surgeon, I love to fix things and potentially cure people of cancer. When that’s not possible, it’s often challenging to tell patients that an operation is not feasible or their best option.
Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job?
A: The relationships, primarily with patients but also with my amazing partners and staff. Meeting a patient with a potentially curable cancer, performing the operation, seeing them become cancer-free, and then following along with them on their journey for several years afterward is a privilege for me and my team.
Q: Favorite quote to live by:
A: “The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” –Sir William Osler, Canadian physician and a co-founder of Johns Hopkins Hospital
Q: For someone seeking a career like yours, what would you tell them makes O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center special?
A: O’Neal really fosters a place where we as physicians can collaborate and provide our patients with the best cancer care possible.
Q: How have you grown your career at O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center?
A: I have the privilege of leading our colorectal cancer service line, and it has given me amazing opportunities to collaborate with other specialties, expand our clinical enterprise, and lead national programs for accreditation in colorectal cancer to provide the most cutting-edge cancer care.
Q: What or who inspires you?
A: For me, it is all about my faith and family. My faith provides me with purpose to serve as a physician for our patients. My wife and three girls keep me both grounded and inspired to do this work every day and come home to an amazing family.
Q: What do you do on a typical day off?
A: Usually that’s a weekend, and I’m chasing kids around some sports field. If not, I enjoy being outdoors, either playing golf or hunting whatever is in season.
Q: What is one accomplishment you are especially proud of?
A: I grew up with all guys, but now I have three young girls. A few weekends ago, my wife was out of town, so I had to have all of them ready in the morning. I managed to get all of their hair done – with the correct bows in place – and make it on time to our event. That was much harder than doing cancer surgery.
Q: Before working at O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, what was the most unusual or interesting job you’ve ever had?
A: My first job was bagging groceries and stocking produce at Piggly Wiggly.
Q: Are there any O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center members you would like to recognize?
A: Ridley Brown, BSN, RN, our nurse coordinator, for our rectal cancer clinic and our National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer.