Harrison Medical Center’s vascular surgeon Angela Diamond has achieved what no other woman has: She is the only woman in the United States to hold three surgical board certifications. For that matter, her achievement is rare in our four-state region, where she is the only surgeon to hold that title. And soon, if all goes according to plan, she will push the envelope even more, adding a fourth surgical board certification.
Diamond, whose sunny personality radiates when she speaks about her work and patients, says she doesn’t pay attention to those accolades. “When it comes down to it, patients just want to be cared for. That’s more important than being triple-boarded,” she says.
Diamond, who grew up in Woodinville, graduated from the University of Washington’s medical school, and did her general surgery residency at Swedish Medical Center, then thoracic residency at Baylor College . She was a heart surgeon for eight years when she realized she loved working with vascular patients.
Moving from Puget Sound to New York with her husband, Hal White, she became the first woman to graduate from the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. The field had undergone changes, so by going back to school she was able to learn all the new treatments. “It was a whole new world,” she says.
One may think of surgeons as people who come into a patient’s life for awhile, never to cross paths again unless another surgery is required. For Diamond, seeing a patient for the first time is the start of a long relationship. “It’s not just about the surgery,” she says. “It’s about developing a relationship, and I really cherish that. It’s the best part of the job…”
Diamond decided to be a doctor when she was about 12. She broke her leg while skiing, and spent six weeks in traction at a hospital, then another six weeks in a body cast before switching to crutches for six months. Her family had just moved to the area from New Orleans before the accident — and despite having a tough experience, Diamond developed a love for medical care. The decision to become a surgeon came later, when she was in the third year of medical school. “I loved ; it suited me very well,” she says.
Diamond operates every day, scheduling an average of three to five operations. She usually gets to the hospital by 7 a.m., and is just leaving her office, which is near the hospital, around 7 p.m. or later — and that’s on top of being on call every third day and every third weekend. Surgery duration can be anywhere from one hour to eight, with no breaks during an operation.
Asked how she prepares for such a physically demanding time, she says, “You drink a lot of water before. You’re trained so well as a fellow, you get used to it. You’re so intensely involved that you don’t realize how the time goes by.”
Vascular surgery is a little bit like detective work, which sits well with Diamond. “It’s constant thinking and changing strategy as you go,” she says. “It’s constantly intellectually challenging, which is what’s great about it.”
The field continues to be changing, and Diamond marvels at how procedures that used to require two weeks of hospitalization can now be done as day surgery. Patients, too, are much more educated, and she loves seeing them come in with stacks of papers after they’ve done research. When their self-diagnosis is not on par, she gently guides them in a different direction, saying something like, “No sweetie, that’s not what you have,” and explaining why.
Since Diamond joined Harrison, a varicose veins clinic has been added, in addition to thoracic stenting, clotted artery stenting — and recently, thorasic aortic stenting procedures. She runs the vein center at the Thoracic and Vascular Center in addition to doing endo-vascular work at Harrison.
Women surgeons are not as unusual these days, and Diamond thinks as more women enter health care, more will be attracted to the idea. She says of vascular surgery: “It’s a great field. You get to fix legs that don’t work — it’s wonderful. You get to follow patients and their disease, and you have to figure out how to get the blood flow into their brains or their legs so their body can work again.”
As if her schedule isn’t full enough, Diamond is currently spending time pouring over books. She is studying for her fourth board certification, in phlebology, or study of veins. She will take her exam this spring, and says the move will help her be a better-rounded surgeon.
Diamond is pretty casual about her achievements. In fact, she says it’s her husband who is the big achiever in the family. Hal White, who was a real estate lawyer when the two met, has changed careers a few years ago and is now a mystery writer. His first published book titled “The Mysteries of Reverend Dean” recently received rave reviews from the Publishers Weekly, and he’s in the process of writing his second book. Diamond reads — and edits — all his books.
“The proudest day of my life was the day he published his book this year,” she says. “Of all the things I’ve done, this is what I’m most proud of. I’m just a doctor. In 50 years… his book will still be here.”
Diamond, who moved to Bremerton from the East Coast after joining Harrison in 2006, says she and her husband are happy to be back to Puget Sound. “I was blessed to join this group,” she says. “We are very happy to be back home.”
