Perioperative Profile: Mike Scott

At the EBPOM World Congress in London, Andy Cumpstey interviews Professor Michael Scott, Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in Rochester, New York for TopMedTalk's Perioperative Profile series. Scott, recounts growing up in Bath in the UK, studying medicine at Birmingham, and funding medical school through award-winning travel photography that later informed medical teaching resources and WHO's LifeBox work. He describes extensive travel, including China, Nepal, Peru, Gaza, and Myanmar, and how experiences shifted him toward medicine and then anesthesia after time in emergency medicine. Scott outlines his UK training, family moves, and relocation to the US, including work at VCU and Penn during COVID, where he helped build tele-ICU capabilities amid PPE and ventilator shortages. He highlights pride in LifeBox, enhanced recovery/complication reduction, and opioid-sparing initiatives, and advises resilience and supportive partnerships.