Dr. Joshua B. Bederson, MD
Dr. Joshua B. Bederson, MD, thinks Doctors’ Day is a bit of a misnomer.
“I think Doctors’ Day should be renamed Patients’ Day,” he said. “Doctors would not exist without patients—patients are our whole reason for being doctors in the first place.”
Dr. Bederson would know. As the Leonard I. Malis, MD / Corinne and Joseph Graber Professor of Neurosurgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and System Chair for the Department of Neurosurgery at the Mount Sinai Health System, he is a globally recognized leader in skull base and cerebrovascular neurosurgery, as well as a pioneer in advanced digital visualization and augmented reality for surgery. Dr. Bederson is consistently recognized by patients for his sincere commitment to providing compassionate care that aims to help people and improve their quality of life.
It is a commitment that Dr. Bederson does not take lightly.
“If there’s a day devoted to doctors, I guess it would be one devoted to people who care enough about patients suffering from illness and injury that they’ve decided to devote their lives to helping these individuals,” he added. “That is a noble calling.”
The doctor-patient relationship is unique and holds great importance. To acknowledge this significance, Doctors’ Day is celebrated annually on March 30th, honoring physicians for their dedication, skill, and unwavering commitment to providing high-quality health care for individuals and communities. Patients are encouraged to express their gratitude to their physicians through personal notes or digital messages of thanks.
Dr. Bederson joined Mount Sinai in 1992 and has chaired the Department of Neurosurgery since 2008. Forbes recognized him as a world leader and visionary in brain-computer interface technology and he recently set a world record with a 4,096-electrode array recording from the human brain, in collaboration with Precision Neuroscience. At Mount Sinai, he has performed more than 6,500 neurosurgical procedures.
An early interest in how the brain works prompted Dr. Bederson to major in psychology at Cornell University. As he developed a mechanistic understanding of brain function, his studies led him to neuroscience and eventually to medical school, where he became fascinated by the concept—and possibilities—of finding ways to heal brain trauma.
“I realized, eventually, that not only could you apply what you learned about the workings of the brain and use your hands in a very technically demanding area, but you are also helping people with some of the most profound problems they could face,” he said.
Dr. Bederson is grateful for philanthropic support, which he describes as crucial to the initial trial-and-error phase of experimentation and the creation of the preliminary data that drives research and education. “It’s an investment in the future,” he said. “You’re giving something hard-earned to help advance humanity. I could be accused of trying to be profound or a little cheesy, but it’s 100% true.”
Dr. Bederson recognizes the importance of another type of investment in the future: that of physicians-in-training. That’s why, this Doctors’ Day, Dr. Bederson is shining a light on the neurosurgery resident education program at Mount Sinai. Residents are vital members of our dynamic health care team, delivering compassionate patient care while advancing medicine through unrivaled education, research, and outreach in the many communities we serve.
Doctors’ Day? Patients’ Day? To Dr. Bederson, it’s a distinction without a difference.
“If you’re successful in helping your patients—not successful in the trappings that come with success—but if you’re successful in being able to help your patients meaningfully, that is one of the greatest things that you can do,” he said. “There aren’t too many professions where an individual can help someone to such a profound degree.”