When a lot of people think of medical professionals, words like "youthful" and "enthusiastic" aren't generally among the first to come to mind.
If they were to visit the private practice of colorectal and general surgeon Dr. James Prieto, however, their typical list of descriptions would most likely change in short order.
Ask Prieto about almost anything he does as a surgeon, and you'll get a number of answers that radiate with passion and enthusiasm.
"It's fun," the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., native said of his new San Antonio practice. "Things are going very well."
Prieto is still relatively new to San Antonio, as well as to private practice itself, but underestimating his résumé would be a mistake; he already has privileges at all the hospitals in Baptist Health System, as well as a lengthy list of professional memberships at such prestigious organizations as the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and the Texas Medical Association, among others.
Of all the areas Prieto could have focused on during his time in medical school, he chose to specialize in general surgery because he "enjoyed it the most. I went through all the different rotations - internal medicine, anesthesia and surgery - but I just gravitated toward surgery.
"I'd spend the most hours in surgery, but it would seem like the least hours; so 120 hours a week in surgery seemed a lot easier to me than 60 hours on an internal medicine rotation."
He felt a similar gravitational pull toward his sub-specialty, colorectal surgery.
"I really enjoyed taking care of patients with colorectal disorders the most," he said. "It's complicated, and it's challenging. And the people who get sick tend to do very well when you take care of them and offer them surgery; they improve dramatically."
According to Dr. Michael Leitman of the Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, who was responsible for training Prieto during his residency, Prieto is also unique for a surgeon in that he's just as good with the patients as he is with the technical work itself.
"Jimmy Prieto is a very skilled and technically gifted surgeon," Leitman said. "But more than that, he has the unique gift of being very kind, sympathetic and gentle with the patients. His bedside manner is probably beyond that of most surgeons, and his gentle and affable nature make him a likable individual, so patients and colleagues are not only impressed by his technical skills, but they also like him and respond well [to him]."
In other words, he's already one of the most promising new colorectal surgeons San Antonio has to offer.
And these are hardly his first accomplishments when it comes to the medical field. Difficult though it is for many to gain acceptance into medical school even after earning a bachelor's degree, Prieto got in straight out of high school as part of the Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME) at the University of Miami.
"The program combines the B.S. and the M.D.," he said. "Basically, I got my B.S. in two years and then became an M.D. after four years [in 2003]."
Upon earning his M.D., Prieto completed his residency in Chicago and New York City and his fellowship and sub-specialty training in Orlando, Fla.
He describes the process as "an excellent experience. I learned a wide variety of different surgeries for different illnesses. I had the advantage of going through both an academic program and a community-based program, so I got exposure to a lot of structured, academic work and different types of surgeries you only have to do in academic settings, and I also learned how to actually become a private-practice physician."
His "wide breadth of surgical education" is definitely coming in handy these days, as the workload and the challenges are just as characteristic to the work itself as they are to training and academics.
"I'm always continuing my medical education, so it's still a lot of work," he said. "And surgery is physically demanding work; when you're up all night doing surgery, you have to stay 100-percent focused. Whenever you're dealing with sick people, there's very little margin for error."
Maintaining a balance between such a demanding job and any sort of personal life is another difficult, yet doable task for Prieto.
"It's a challenge, but I've learned to prioritize," he said. "Family always comes first, and if my family needs something from me, I'm there. But at the same time, I never abandon the patient, of course. There's always time, and there are always ways you can arrange things."
There's also always time, in Prieto's estimation, to give back to the community. Throughout medical school, he participated in a number of health fairs and community-outreach programs, and since he opened his San Antonio practice last year, he's given a number of volunteer presentations on a variety of topics, including - and most notably - cancer awareness.
"A lot of the people [I talk to] aren't really exposed to the medical field," he said. "I like being able to talk to them honestly and tell them about colorectal cancer - what it is, what they should look out for, why it's important to screen and why they should go and see a colorectal surgeon.
"One of the main problems with colorectal cancer is that not enough people undergo the appropriate screening; they either don't know about it, or they just don't go and see their doctor. One of the ways to let them know about it and to explain the importance of seeing a doctor is to go and talk to them."
Prieto always knew he wanted to enter the medical field, and now he's definitely not sorry he "set out to do it and did it." Despite the difficulties associated with entering and remaining in such a competitive field, Prieto is essentially living his dream.
"I love the challenge," he said. "Medicine is a constantly evolving field, and I always have to keep up-to-date and learn new techniques to take care of the patients better, so I never really get bored. And I like the satisfaction of taking care of people and making sure they get better. [Medicine] is definitely one of those fields where a lot of hard work eventually pays off."
