Interview with Dr. James Betts

Of the countless people I could choose to be or the countless actions I could take if, given the choice for one single day, I would choose to be Dr. James Betts.

I had the opportunity to shadow Dr. Betts, Director of Trauma Services & Chief of Surgery at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. Dr. Betts often jokes that he is an all-around American because he is red, white and blue. Red, because he works as a volunteer firefighter to keep the community safe. White, because as a surgeon he tries his hardest to save patient lives. Blue, because he aids the police on criminal cases and offers his expert medical assistance.

Dr. James Betts has been the Pediatric Surgeon Chief and Chairman for around twenty-five years and represents one of the seven pediatric surgeons in the hospital. His partners collectively represent a very diverse group as some of them are from Nigeria, Germany, China, and he himself is from Poland, and Greece. In the United States, there are almost 350 languages spoken and at the UCSF Benioff’s Children's hospital, doctors, and patients speak over 100 languages themselves. Dr. Betts spoke Polish, Yiddish, Russian, and Greek when he was a child along with English. Oakland, where this hospital is located, is composed of people from a multitude of cultures and languages and Dr. Betts is so lucky to be a part of this community. The life he is living today is a dream, and aspiration that he had when he was a young kid.

When he was a young kid, around the age of nine, Dr. Betts’s father passed away and his mother raised him, his brother, and his sister, all alone. His father had an “incurable” malignancy and was only 43 when tragedy struck. Back then, medicine and information were not as advanced so a tumor that could possibly be cured today, unfortunately, took his father’s life. Shortly after, a family physician moved in next door to his family. Every day as a child, Dr. Betts would wake up early and see the doctor always leaving for work in the morning. One day Dr.Betts ran up to him and asked him what he did for a living. The family physician would tell him about the patients he saw, the disorders he treated, and the house calls he made in the morning. Dr. Betts was so interested in hearing about the physician's life as this was his first introduction to the world of medicine.

The town that Dr. Betts lived in had a population of over 70,000 people. He went to high school in his town and started working as an RA in the sixth grade; he also worked hard as a steelworker when he was a kid. Dr. Betts “doesn’t think of myself as better than anyone else, I’m just an average boy from Vermont.” When he was in high school, one of his college counselors told him he would never make it in medicine and to consider another field. Dr. Betts never spoke to the counselor again. I had a very similar experience with a counselor who told me that medicine was too tough of a field for me especially since I was a girl. I was surprised to hear that from someone who was supposed to be encouraging me, not discouraging me. However, Dr. James taught me that ultimately it's my decision, and no one can determine my path but me.

Dr. Betts went to the University of Vermont on scholarship, as well as medical school. He adds that he didn’t have a financial burden from his medical education due to aid, and he soon went off to residency. At the time, there were 15 programs in the United States, and he came to California because of the culture, and community. He liked the fact that they served everyone who came in and there was no discrimination. Everyone has the right to medical care and patients shouldn’t be abused if they don’t have health insurance. For that reason, he provides a lot of assisted supportive care and balances all of that with the need for medicine. He came to California alone, with no relatives when he was 33 years old. He spent 80-90 hours a week at the hospital back then and he still does today. Dr. Betts jests that sleep is overrated because the time you spend sleeping could be better used for another task.

Altogether, Dr.Betts did four different residencies: University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC for a surgical residency, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA for a urology residency, Mt. Sinai Hospital/Case Western Reserve Hospitals for an additional surgical residency, and at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA he did a residency in pediatric surgery & pediatric urology. In his surgical residency, he worked 80 hours a week and stayed in the hospital every other night. He didn’t have a life of his own, and the hospital controlled every aspect of his life. He decided to do a pediatric surgery residency because he liked that surgeons operate and take care of surgical trauma. He also liked the fact that he could take care of the patients and the family from start to finish. His passion for medicine and desire to learn a little bit of everything allows him to do various types of procedures to this day. His residencies taught him to dissociate himself from the patient emotionally. He learned direct care for injured children and he learned how to manage his time and his stress.

One way that he coped with the stress was firefighting. He has a house up in Big Sur where he spends his weekends as a firefighter. On the weekdays, his house serves as a residence for other firefighters to live in. He is a certified firefighter and is trained every month in cliff rescues, and structural building fires. When he was ten years old, becoming a firefighter was an ideal career path for him so Dr. Betts is overjoyed that he is able to do two of the things that he loves. Along with being a firefighter, Dr. Betts is also a tactical physician for the FBI SWAT team in his area. Whenever someone is arrested, he goes along with the team and checks the health of the person. He does this job quite often and he loves “taking out the bad guys.” How someone is able to be a surgeon, a firefighter, and a government tactical physician is beyond me. Dr. Betts is incredible at everything that he does, and he helps save lives in more ways than on

The greatest thing about Dr. Betts is that he absolutely adores his career and claims there is nothing that he hates about his job. He believes it’s an honor, and privilege to be a physician. He is very fulfilled and satisfied by the way that his life worked out because he thinks that everything happens for a reason. He would not change anything about his life because he lives such a valuable, meaningful life. Dr. James Betts has no regrets about becoming a doctor and would not change a thing about the path he has taken.

Some of his hobbies include reading medical journals, exercising in the gym, and playing the piano, tuba, and trumpet (especially when he was a child!). His late dad had a natural talent for the piano and he learned his skills from him. Dr.Betts also loves to volunteer, and conducts talks as well as lectures because he likes to spread the knowledge to educate young minds.

Some interesting facts about Dr. James include the fact that he knows Bernie Sanders because his uncle and Bernie were political activist buddies. He was also on the Olympic Team from 78’-83’. There was a 1983 Olympic Doping Scandal that he discussed with me and explained to me the increasing problem of doping in youth. He joined the Anti-Doping Committee and helped create policies that were used in the Olympics and in other professional leagues such as Baseball.

Dr. James said that he has achieved what he wanted to do, and has fulfilled his duty to the world. He has done over 18,000 operations in his lifetime. Dr. Betts often says “If I were to pass away today, I would have no fear and no regrets about anything.”

Dr. Betts is one of the most incredible souls I have ever had the privilege to meet. He was so kind to me and allowed me to shadow him during patient rotations. His compassion toward his patients and his willingness to help anyone and everyone is truly remarkable. In my life, if I become even half the surgeon that Dr. Betts is, I will consider myself a lucky person. Dr. James Betts is someone that I look up to and I always will because he is someone I consider my role model

Being Dr. Betts for a day would represent great achievements in life. Being a world-class surgeon who helps patients, a firefighter who keeps the community safe, and a tactical physician who helps deliver justice is a dream for many of us, but a reality only for Dr. James Betts.

I too, would like my future to be red, white and blue.