Oluyinka Olutoye, M.D., Ph.D., wanted to be a doctor from an early age. As he recalls, the desire stemmed from a childhood experience in his native Nigeria.
“I had a sick family member, and a doctor made a house call to see them,” Olutoye said. “I remember following him around our home, trying to see as much as I could. After he left, I would play doctor around the house.”
[...]
In October, Olutoye co-led a team of 21 doctors that removed a sacrococcygeal teratoma, a large tumor that grows on the tailbone of a fetus, and then returned the 23-week-old fetus to the mother’s womb.
“What happened in this case was the fetal heart tries to pump blood not only through the child’s body but the tumor as well, which can cause the heart to fail,” Olutoye said. “We monitored the mother throughout pregnancy, and when the growth got too large, we discussed our options and decided surgery would be the best method to save the child.”