Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Editor's note: This story has been revised from a previous posting to clarify content.
Staff writer
A new surgeon in town may eliminate that two-hour trek to Lubbock for a quick procedure or doctor visit.
“It’s a shame to travel two hours for an outpatient procedure or a doctor appointment,” said Dr. John Theodoropoulos, the new surgeon at Plains Regional Medical Center in Clovis.
Theodoropoulos’ specialty is kidney, liver and pancreas transplants. While he does not do transplant surgeries in Clovis, Theodoropoulos found the lack of a transplant surgeon in the area “intriguing,” and decided to come here to provide better patient care in general surgery as well as help the hospital expand its services.
“Clovis is good about emphasizing the hospital in the area,” Theodoropoulos said. “If this hospital were to close, there would be huge consequences. In a perfect world, communities would be the ones to decide the needs and how to cover them — not a central authority or profit-based company.”
When asked about his specialty, Theodoropoulos said it was the difficult mental and physical aspects that attracted him to kidney, liver and pancreas transplants.
“These patients (needing transplants) are so much sicker than one would think,” he said. “They need a lot of work, thought and preparation before even being touched.”
“His training is very impressive,” said Kerri Dufault, communications specialist for Presbyterian Healthcare Services. “We’re excited to have him as part of our team.”
Theodoropoulos received his training in general surgery from the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität in Mainz, Germany, and gained transplant experience as a fellow at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.
A native European, Theodoropoulos decided to take advantage of the European Union’s formation in 1997 to “move freely,” throughout Europe, and went to Germany to begin his medical training.
“Germany has a great record,” he said. “The Marburg virus was famous in Mainz, so it had good medical schools. I had a good experience there, and it was very supportive.”
However, as he progressed in his medical training in Europe, Theodoropoulos discovered it was difficult to move up the ladder and gain more hands-on experience. The lack of independence inspired him to seek out a medical program in the United States. Once he found one at the Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Theodoropoulos applied and was accepted.
“The hierarchy (in Germany) was rigid, and I was always under someone else’s wing,” Theodoropoulos said. “Here, it’s more liberal and geared to producing independent professionals instead of scientists that focus on theory over practice. The training and dedication is more important than the name of the hospital. As long as the training is good, the results should be just as good.”
