The road to medicine
Jackson’s calling to medicine came while on another career path – physics and engineering. With undergraduate degrees in physics and Spanish literature, he headed to the University of Virginia where he earned a master’s degree in engineering physics.
He worked for two years in a research lab, planning to go back to graduate school for bioengineering. However, the lab was run by two surgeons who convinced him to consider medicine and surgery, specifically cardiovascular surgery. “Vascular surgery is intellectually engrossing and technically challenging,” he says.
Though his job is to save lives, prevent strokes and help patients with impaired blood flow to avoid amputation, Jackson says he treasures the relationships he develops with his patients. “I try to always remember that patients who seek out my expertise are people – with jobs, lives, hobbies, families and compelling personal stories. I enjoy hearing those stories and playing a role in caring for those people,” he says.
Jackson says his goals for LVHN include establishing a Center of Excellence for the Care of Aortic Aneurysms and a Limb Salvage Program. He also plans to start a vascular surgery training program.