“ There will always
be a need to balance technology and science with ‘ the art of medicine ,’ ” said Dr . Smith-Harrison .
COVER STORY · JULY 2017
“ Being the primary interface with the patients , the staff is indispensable to the providers in caring for our patients . We establish the trust with our patients by providing timely and supportive care ,” said Dr . Smith-Harrison .
Such trust is important , especially when parents have to decide what kind of care they want their children to receive .
“ In the pediatric world , I like to think that we are a team : a team that involves nurses , technicians , medical assistants , physicians , but more importantly , the parents . First of all , parents are the ones who take the initial decision of trusting their child to our practice . They decide whether or not they will pursue surgery , whether or not they will give the medication , whether or not they will follow recommendations provided in our encounters . As you can see , parents are the key element to the success of treatment of our patients ,” said Dr . Cruz-Diaz .
INDIVIDUALIZED CARE IS IMPORTANT TO DRISCOLL PHYSICIANS .
“ Children are unique when it comes to their diagnoses and pathology that need to be addressed ; therefore our medical approach is indeed different . Children react differently . The parents are also involved in these visits and they need to be addressed as well , so that they are able to care for the children properly ,” said Dr . Smith- Harrison .
Driscoll ’ s Urology clinics offer comprehensive services for children from birth to 21 years of age . Areas of expertise for Urology medical staff involve children ’ s kidneys , bladder , congenital anomalies , bladder infections , urinary incontinence , kidney stones , cancers , urinary tract infections , and complex reconstruction .
The clinics also offer specialized care to children with a vast array of pathologies involving the genitourinary system such as undescended testicles , hydrocele / inguinal hernias , neurogenic bladder / bowel , voiding dysfunction , ambiguous genitalia , penile anomalies ( hypospadias , epispadias , penile torsion , penile curvature ), bladder exstrophy , cloacal anomalies , among others .
“ We are able to meet all and any pediatric urology needs . The primary challenge that we come across often is distance . We see a plethora of patients and most of them live in the Rio Grande Valley or in between the Valley and Corpus Christi ,” said Dr . Smith-Harrison .
To meet such needs , education is necessary .
The daVinci XI Surgical System is an advanced robotic device that allows Omar Cruz-Diaz , MD ( left ), and Leon Smith-Harrison , MD , to better perform laparoscopic surgery . The daVinci offers minimally invasive surgery , faster recovery time , smaller incisions , and less pain and blood loss for patients .
“ Education is an integral aspect of pediatric urology . On some occasions , education is the only management that certain patients require . For example , patients who have voiding dysfunction ( bedwetting , urinary incontinence , urinary holding , etc .) require a profound education not only for the patient but for their family support system . Currently , our nurse practitioners and ourselves are directly involved in providing education to our patients ,” said Dr . Cruz-Diaz .
“ Our patients are children , so they need to be reached at their age level of communication . We stress during the time of the visit to the parents the child ’ s needs to educate them as to what is going on with their child . Recently , we also started doing weekend conferences to offer additional education for the parents and patients ,” said Dr . Smith-Harrison .
Driscoll urologists believe in using the latest in medical technology to help their young patients . Both physicians have seen numerous technological advances during their medical careers .
“ The primary change in technology has revolved around computers and the internet in communication , medical records , diagnostic equipment , and robots . Because of this with regards to surgery , we ’ ve developed a way to perform minimal invasive surgeries ,” said Dr . Smith-Harrison . Currently , only minor procedures such as circumcision are offered in the Valley .
The daVinci XI Surgical System is one device the urologists are utilizing in performing laparoscopic surgery . The daVinci is an advanced robotic device which allows for minimally invasive surgery , faster recovery time , smaller incisions , and less pain and blood loss for patients .
“ One of our goals is to continue expanding the robotic program to include more challenging / advanced robotic surgical procedures such as bladder augmentation and bladder neck surgery ,” said Dr . Cruz-Diaz .
“ There will always
be a need to balance technology and science with ‘ the art of medicine ,’ ” said Dr . Smith-Harrison .
Both physicians are keenly aware of the importance of properly practicing “ the art of medicine .”
“ We believe it ’ s a privilege and honor to care for our pediatric urology patients in South Texas . We are honored by the trust given to us by patients . We are able to provide a spectrum of pediatric urology care , from the medical diagnosis to the treatments and finally their surgeries . We are absolutely committed to providing state-of-the-art care to the children of the Rio Grande Valley ,” said Dr . Smith-Harrison .
“ I always remind myself of the privilege of being a pediatric urologist . With every patient that I take care of , I am not only impacting the life of the patient , I also impact the life of the people surrounding the child , with every decision , with every word , with every gesture . I just feel blessed ,” said Dr . Cruz-Diaz . “ My passion of providing excellent care will never change , regardless of the challenges that a patient may present .”
15 HEALTHY MAGAZINE