Cancer surgery has improved a great deal in the past several years and Timothy Pawlik and the James Cancer Hospital are helping to lead the way. Top-notch cancer surgery “requires complex solutions and a skilled team, with an emphasis on the team approach,” said Pawlik, MD, PhD, MPH, the surgeon-in-chief of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and James Cancer Hospital. In this episode, Pawlik discusses how he became interested in science and medicine and how he came to specialize in liver and pancreas cancer. “For me, it’s not just professional, it’s personal,” said Pawlik, adding that several family members have been diagnosed with cancer. He also discusses the skills he believes make a great oncology surgeon: outstanding technical skills, compassion, and the ability to communicate with patients and their family members. Pawlik also discusses some of the recent advances in cancer surgery, including: Minimally invasive liver, pancreas and lung surgery; administering chemotherapy directly into a tumor as a part of surgery; a new technique to place a pump under the skin of a patient that delivers chemotherapy into the liver over time; and using a heated probe to “ablate” thyroid tumors. “Our true north is what’s best for the patient,” Pawlik said of his overall philosophy of treating patients. “I’m a surgeon, but really I’m a care provider.”