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Physician Spotlight – R Loch Macdonald, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS, General & Vascular Neurosurgery
July 31, 2019
University Neurosciences Institute »
Why did you become a physician?
When I was 9 or 10 somehow I knew I would be a brain surgeon. As a kid, my father was a psychology professor and he had all these books on the brain lying around the house. Also, I was always tinkering with radios and mechanical things, taking them apart, figuring out how they worked and basically doing microsurgery on them. So the combination of these two things is a lot like neurosurgery. That scenario, combined with my altruistic personality led to my career.
Tell us about your specialty.
I would never do anything other than neurosurgery. We get to do a great variety of surgeries including some of the most difficult that there are. I specialize in open neurovascular surgery which involves brain hemorrhages, certain types of stroke, ruptured aneurysms and brain blood vessel malformations to mention a few. I also do my share of general neurosurgery which includes brain tumors, traumatic injuries to the brain and spine and degenerative spine conditions. Neurosurgery is great because we can actually cure people and we get to know them and follow them sometimes for many years.
What excites you the most about practicing in the Central Valley?
I’m looking forward to helping to grow Community Regional Medical Center and University Neurosciences Institute’s position as the premier stroke and neurovascular center in the Central Valley and providing this essential service to so many people. I will also be near my family and a setting conducive to my hobbies.