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Neurosurgeons are a select group of highly trained and educated specialists capable of almost inconceivable feats of lifesaving. And, like Clark Kent that famous mild mannered reporter some of them keep a decidedly lower profile when not saving lives.
Dr. Ramon Batson is the newly appointed chief of neurosurgery at Norwalk Hospital. He is just anotherHarvard-educated, preternaturally gifted individual who likes to unwind from a day at the proverbial office by reading books (he favors American history and politics) and playing guitar (he collects them).
Dr. Batson, who grew up in Brooklyn, NY, knew at an early age he wanted to be a doctor. "One of my teachers [at Brooklyn Technical High School] asked us to write a paper about scientific research and I wrote about nerve transplantation in Europe," he says. It was likely not a run of the mill science project. And while studying at Harvard, he did research on proton beam therapy for pituitary tumors.
But it was during medical school that Dr. Batson turned his attention toward neurosurgery. "I saw surgeons remove an epidural hematoma [blood clot on the brain] from a patient who was comatose." After the surgery, when the patient was able to return to ''all of his regular activities," Dr. Batson realized this would be his area of expertise. "I thought it was pretty amazing. I wanted to help people return to as normal a life as possible."
After graduating cum laude from Harvard, Dr. Batson attended medical school at SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY, and completed his internship and residency trainings at Tufts New England Medical Center, where he served as Chief Resident in Neurosurgery and Senior Resident in Neurosurgery. He was also Chief Resident in Neurosurgery at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Boston and theBoston VA Medical Center.
As chief of neurosurgery, Dr. Batson is eager to add to Norwalk Hospital's "already excellent" neurosurgical services. "We treat patients with brain, spinal and pituitary tumors, as well as those suffering from hydrocephalus, trigeminal neuralgia [nerve disorder], neck and back pain due to herniated discs, spinal stenosis, fractures, degenerative disc disease and spinal trauma," he says. The surgeons, he says, operate with neuronavigational computer-assisted and guided -- techniques for cranial (brain) surgeries. Such minimally invasive techniques mean faster and less painful recoveries for patients.
Dr. Batson and his wife, Iris, have lived in Redding for 20 years. When he's not reading or playing his electric guitars, he likes to noodle around on his iPad or iPhone. "I'm a news junkie," he says. And he's just a regular guy unwinding from the office after a day of saving lives.No
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