Marie-Lyne Lavoie, MD
I moved from Montreal, Quebec to Greensboro, NC in January 2000. Since then, I have practiced with Wendover Ob-Gyn and Infertility. My practice includes both obstetrics and gynecology.
In the fall of 2006, I participated in a conference on Gynecologic Robotic Surgery. By then, I was a proficient laparoscopic surgeon. In fact, I trained at Montreal University in the 1990’s as an Ob-Gyn resident. At that time, I was exposed to laparoscopy assisted vaginal hysterectomies, laparoscopic tubal reanastomosis and laparoscopic radical hysterectomies. In my private practice that followed, I privileged minimally invasive approaches as much as possible. I therefore felt at ease with the idea of using the da Vinci robotic technology to perform even more complex surgeries in a minimally invasive way.
Wesley Long Hospital (Moses Cone Health System) has the da Vinci S Surgical System. I trained in Texas and started on my first cases in March 2007. I started with da Vinci robotic assisted total laparoscopic hysterectomies and myomectomies. I then added da Vinci robotic assisted sacrocolpopexies. So far, I have performed more than 200 cases with the da Vinci system.
As I have gained extensive experience and proficiency with the da Vinci system, I have had the pleasure of proctoring four colleagues during their first few cases to help them become comfortable using the system.
To keep up to date with robotics I have joined the Intuitive Surgical websites where robotic surgeons are able to share their experiences. I also attended the 2007 World Robotic conference in Michigan and the robotic conference in Chicago in 2009. I will participate in an advanced course on complex robotic surgeries at Celebration Hospital in Florida in September 2011. Tim Roth, our Intuitive Surgical representative has also been a source of information as to what the technology has to offer as it progresses. He remains current on pertinent conferences, clinical studies, new instrumentation and procedural videos and webcasts illustrating various techniques.
On a more personal note, I was born and raised in a large French Canadian family. I studied in French up until medical school at McGill University, where I then studied in English. I have two wonderful teenagers who are also bilingual. They are excellent competitive tennis players. We enjoy tennis as a family, which is my way of maintaining a high level of fitness that allows me to achieve my goals both professionally and personally.