Neurosurgery has always been my passion since my first hospital rotation as a medical student at Hotel Dieu De France in Beirut, Lebanon. Neurosurgery is the reason I moved to the US in 2002.
The Phoenicians, who lived in Lebanon and the surrounding regions in 2500 BC, were credited for being one of the first winemakers in history and they transmitted their winemaking techniques to the Romans, who played a major role in spreading the winemaking knowledge to the rest of Europe and the world.
Maybe those Phoenician genes were behind my passion for wine that I grew up with since I was a little kid. My grandfather often used to give me some of this “magical liquid” to get me stimulated to try and talk about those aromatic enchanting flavors coming from the glass. It didn’t stop there, but continued to another level of quizzing, blind tasting and guessing. All of this triggered this dormant interest and passion that at the right moment, resurfaced.
The Journey
As you all know, Neurosurgery residency is intense, demanding and time-consuming to the point where you don’t have time to even think of any extracurricular activities. With a modest resident salary, I started exploring and buying affordable wine to collect and taste. After residency, I started acquiring some collectibles, first storing them in a regular room in the basement. Soon enough, I built a formal wine cellar.
During that time, I was training my taste buds and reading a lot, but in the first years of neurosurgical practice, I was busy building my clinical and research activities to establish myself in the field. I always knew in the back of my mind that I needed to grow this interest and take it to a different level by attending wine school and getting certified.
I used to drive by the Wine School in Philadelphia and dream of getting there one day, but I also knew that it would be a serious and challenging commitment with my already crazy schedule at the hospital. This idea was always, right away, placed on a bucket list.
The Turning Point
I soon realized that bucket lists are meaningless, because people assume that they have time, but in reality, things can change in seconds, and priorities can switch from trying to enjoy a normal life with family and friends to survival mode and fighting to stay alive. In my daily practice at the hospital, I see young, healthy patients whose lives are suddenly devastated by a ruptured aneurysm or a stroke. I usually ask my residents: “do you think this patient had a bucket list and thought that there was plenty of time to get to it?” This perspective started influencing me slowly … “ Carpe Diem”…
It was August 2019 when I finally decided to enroll in the wine school to get my levels 1, 2 and 3 done. I started going to evening classes after my long surgical days, and my partners would graciously cover for me when I was on call.
The curriculum had two parts; theory and tasting. I went back to my medical school days and started studying, doing homework and taking tests. For the tasting, I would train my palate by doing blind tastings at home on my own or by going to restaurants and asking the sommelier to get me wines by the glass without telling me what they were. It was fascinating to learn about the science behind winemaking, tasting and all the methods used to figure out the grape, region, vintage and producer.
In December 2021, I graduated as a certified Level 4 Sommelier. For now, it is still a hobby. I enjoy teaching and doing blind tastings for friends and family. In addition to that, I help organize events for our wine club members at the Union League of Philadelphia. I also was lucky enough to have the opportunity to venture into making my own wine in Bordeaux with some oenophile friends from the club in collaboration with Chateau Lynches-Bages.
Will I ever go professional? I don’t know what the future holds for me, but for now, I love Neurosurgery too much to be able to switch careers.
I hope this story will push people to follow their craziest dreams.
