“I very much believe in the Pediatric Transplant Center and its patients.”
Francis Fynn-Thompson, MD, is the surgical director for the Heart and Lung Transplant Programs at Boston Children’s, as well as an assistant in Cardiac Surgery and a surgeon for the Lung Transplant Program.
He’s also a researcher, studying ways to make some surgeries less invasive for patients. It’s an impressive resume, but did you know he’s also an avid sports fan and a pretty mean squash player? Read the following Q and A to learn even more about Dr. Fynn-Thompson.
Q. What is your personal calling to health care?
A. My parents were both physicians, so I grew up around medicine. My mother was a pediatrician and my father was a general surgeon. I always wanted to be in medicine.
Q. What was your first paying job?
A. In college, I worked in the biomedical library stacking books.
Q. Do you have a family?
A. My wife is an ophthalmologist and together we have an 8-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son.
Q. Do you have any pets?
A. I have a cat.
Q. Where were you born?
A. I was born in Hungary where I lived until I was 10 years old.
Q. What’s your favorite thing about living in Boston?
A. The sports teams. Also, to me Boston is a very accessible city. The beach and the mountains are not too far, which I like.
Q. What is your favorite food?
A. Anything that is Ghanian. Also, I enjoy the Hungarian food that my mom cooks.
Q. What are your hobbies outside of work?
A. I enjoy playing squash, golf, soccer, reading and spending time with my family.
Q. Tell us about your volunteer work.
A. For the last six years, we have a group that has been going to Kumasi, Ghana. The group is a big contingent of clinicians, mostly from Boston Children’s, but also from other hospitals, like Massachusetts General Hospital. We go to a teaching hospital in Kumasi and spend 10 days there. We spend the first day or two screening children, and then spend a week operating on them.
Q. Any final thoughts for our readers?
A. I very much believe in the Pediatric Transplant Center and its patients. I think transplant is a constantly evolving field. Much like the work we do in Africa, transplant is really about giving people a second chance at life. The driving mission of a surgeon is the desire to help others. It is really fun to do it at a place like Boston Children’s.