Dr. Steven Schwaitzberg is on a mission to teach surgeons around the world to perform minimally invasive surgery. But first, he's had to find the right technology to allow communication across the language barrier.

Why you should listen

Steven Schwaitzberg, MD, is a pioneer in the field of minimally invasive surgery. Over the course of his career, he has worked on developing the techniques and certification standards for this type of surgery, which is far less painful for patients and allows them to return to their normal lives sooner than with traditional surgery.

Schwaitzberg is the Chief of Surgery at the Cambridge Health Alliance at the Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital. He recently served as the president of SAGES (Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons), a national organization that seeks to advance surgery and improve patient care. Now, he has his eye on teaching minimally invasive surgery techniques to surgeons who live and work across the globe -- a task which has led him on a hunt for the right technology to allow for video conferencing and real-time translation in a surgeon’s native language.

What others say

“Dr. Steven Schwaitzberg knows a thing or two about games of chance. He grew up the son of a bingo hall operator and as a young man was hired by family friend and casino mogul Steve Wynn to work in "the cage" at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.” — Boston.com

Steven Schwaitzberg’s TED talk

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Health

8 talks about advances in surgery

January 24, 2013

[ted id=1652]Regardless of what you might see on shows like Grey’s Anatomy, teaching surgery is very difficult. This is a fact that Dr. Steven Schwaitzberg stresses in today’s talk. Schwaitzberg, who spoke at TEDxBeaconStreet in November, is a pioneer in the field of minimally invasive surgery, which is less painful for patients and allows them […]

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