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(1/n) Today my colleague Dr. Norman Marcon, a giant in gastroenterology and endoscopy in Canada retired. This is a brief tweetorial about who he is, his career, and the contributions that he made to gastroenterology, and particularly endoscopic education.
(2/n) Dr. Marcon went to medical school at Queen's University @QueensUHealth and then began a rotating internship in 1964-1965 at @UofT_DoM in Toronto, where he was heavily inspired by Dr. Edward Prokipchuk ( https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestar/obituary.aspx?n=edward-james-prokipchuk&pid=127822571), at the time new faculty in GI @UnityHealthTO.
(3/n). He followed with 2 y at Boston City Hospital @The_BMC, and then to @StMarksHospital under Prof John Lennard-Jones, along w/ Dr Christopher Williams http://www3.svls.se/sektioner/ga/Gastro/om_cw.htm. He was introduced to endoscopy from a short Machida colonoscope brought by Tetsuichiro Muto.
(4/n) While in Europe Dr. Marcon was heavily influenced by German endoscopy: Dr Peter Kiefhaber in Munich and the Nd:YAG laser for GI bleeding, and Dr Nib Soehendra from Hamburg, with whom he shared a close relationship, sending his fellow Paul Kortan for adv training with him.
(5/n) Dr. Marcon started practice as head of gastroenterology at the Wellesley Hospital in Toronto, recruited now-giants in endoscopy: Greg Haber ( @nyulangone), Paul Kortan and Gabor Kandel ( @UnityHealthTO). From a one-room ramshackle endoscopy unit, Dr. Marcon built an empire.
(6/n) The culture that Dr. Marcon instilled espoused was to NEVER say no to sick patients. This cemented the Wellesley as the go-to hospital for any sick patient with GIB, cholangitis, pancreatitis, or any GI problem. Any and all patients came to the ER from Ontario at ANY time.
(7/n) Dr. Marcon realized rapidly that endoscopy required development of devices for therapeutics to progress. He contributed to development (e.g. with @CookMedical of devices like Marcon-Haber injectors; optical coherence tomography with Brian Wilson https://www.uhnresearch.ca/researcher/brian-c-wilson)
(8/n) But his big "research" strength was travelling the world with a seemingly innate sense of the next new endoscopic technology, and bringing it to North America. (Prof Inouye first NA esophageal EMR; Prof Yamamoto first NA DBE in 2003, among numerous others)
(9/n) These innovations were highlighted in the first North American live endoscopic course, run out of the Wellesley, starting in 1983. Dr. Marcon favoured demonstration on real patients as a preferred way to teach advanced endoscopy.
(10/n) Dr. Marcon's greatest legacy however was in education of advanced fellows. He has trained over 150 advanced fellows, many have whom have proceeded to brilliant endoscopic careers: @alerepici, Michael Bourke @WestSydHealth, Greg Haber, @RobertBechara, Shou-Jiang Tang
(11/n) @TareqAlomani, LM Wong Kee Song, Paul Akerman, Sergio Zepeda, Rick Sultanian, @GerardConeys, Gabor Kandel, Yuto Shimamura, Yugo Iwaya, Naoki Muguruma and 100+ others including his last fellows: @natalia_calo, @jivargasd, @Hondyyyyyyy, Riyosuke Kobayashi and @saadina23
(12/n) The ceremonial "laying of the hands" at Gabor Kandel's house each summer marked the transmission of endoscopic knowledge from mentor to mentee, often dressed in an embarrassing getup (Maria Cirocco made sure of it).
(13/n) In 2000 the Wellesley merged with St. Michael's Hospital, the group expanded with other gastroenterologists including Gary May and @jmosko29. In 2015, Dr. Marcon was inducted as an Officer of the Order of Canada @GGJuliePayette, one of Canada's highest civilian honours.
(14/n) Along all of this, Dr. Marcon practiced superlative patient care going far above the call of duty. Patients had his home phone number, called at any time for any potential complication or concern. We often said we learned as much about physicianship as endoscopy from Norm.
(15/n) His relationship with nursing was special. With Maria Cirocco he encouraged a culture of academic endoscopic nursing (passed on in generations by ppl like former fellow Ramasamy Saravanan and the TECNA course https://www.tecnainfo.com/ ) and nursing development in endoscopy.
(16/16) What a legacy! Greg Haber interviews Dr. Marcon in a Cook Medical series on YouTube describing his career journey, highly recommended to anyone with an interest in endoscopic history ( @PerelmansPearls). #gigang /end
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