For Dr. Jeremy Freeman, being a surgeon is a lot like playing on a basketball team.

“It requires a lot of hard work and training, teamwork, technical skill, coordination, and precise judgment,” says Dr. Freeman, Otolaryngologist-in-Chief at Mount Sinai and head of the Hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee, a group that includes all medical chiefs of staff.

For the past 28 years, this former high school basketball star has worked at Mount Sinai, helping to build his Department into a premier multidisciplinary centre that treats cancers of the head and neck, including disorders of the thyroid and parathyroid. In fact, Dr. Freeman runs one of the largest volume endocrine practices in North America.

He is also very proud of helping further the Hospital’s commitment to teaching excellence. Every year, his staff trains and educates many fellows and residents and countless medical students. And his physicians continually upgrade their skills, attending lectures and courses, reading journals, and publishing their research and academic work.

It’s all part of a rigorous quality assurance program that ensures patients receive the best medical care. “At Mount Sinai, all doctors are re-appointed annually, and their appointment is subject to the discretion of their chief so our staff maintains a high level of excellence in patient care, teaching, and research,” says Dr. Freeman.

Being a doctor involves great commitment, but there has never been a better time to be at Mount Sinai. “I am profoundly grateful to so many people for helping create such a productive and collegial Hospital atmosphere,” says Dr. Freeman. “I cannot remember a time or recall another hospital where there was greater rapport and integration between the medical staff across all departments, the administration, and the Board. We have an excellent culture in which we communicate well with one another and nobody gets lost in the shuffle.”

He says Mount Sinai is big enough to recruit and retain the best staff yet small enough to care for staff and patients on a personal level. “We are world-renowned in so many areas and for so many reasons,” Dr. Freeman says. “I am so proud to be part of the Mount Sinai team.”