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Quick Facts:
St. Louis - South
Join us in welcoming neurosurgeon Dr. Tobias Mattei to the Mercy South team. Dr. Mattei joins Drs. Mark Rivkin and Alex Michael, nurse practitioner Jessica Lutker and physician assistant Betty Sisco serving patients with Mercy Clinic Neurosurgery – 10012 Kennerly. You can get to know more about Dr. Mattei in his own words with this Q&A:
Why did you get into health care?
I decided to become a physician because I saw the deep impact that diseases and pain can have on individuals as well as their families. I had a grandmother who was shot in a robbery before I was born. For the rest of her life, she was paraplegic and suffered from excruciating phantom limb pain. Ultimately, I knew that medicine had its limitations, but at the same time, I wanted to employ my best efforts to acquire all the knowledge and skills I could master so I could care and impact the life of those who are suffering.
Did you always know you wanted to be a doctor?
No. At one point, because of my interest in analytical skills and argumentative persuasion, I was certain I wanted to be a lawyer. After finishing my neurosurgery training and fellowships, and after having become an accomplished academic neurosurgeon at Saint Louis University, I ended up going back to school for evening classes and earned my law degree. Those newer skills have been very useful in my neurosurgical career and led me to assume leadership roles in quality, performance reviews and health care policy analyses. In the past five years, we have developed an extensive and highly impactful line of research in a variety of medical legal issues in neurosurgery, from patent litigation to health care fraud, with presentations at national meetings and dozens of publications in high-impact journals.
All my knowledge, surgical skills, academic accomplishments and personal efforts have a single goal: serving my patients with excellence and compassion. If you choose me to be your neurosurgeon, I promise I will be by your side, helping you through the challenges and hard decisions, trusting that our Good Father will abundantly provide for your needs with a thankful heart because He has given me the privilege of being a tool to bless those around me.
What drew you to specialize in neurosurgery?
I became interested in neurosurgery when I was first exposed to the complexity and beauty of microsurgical anatomy. As someone who has always been excited by new intellectual challenges, I saw neurosurgery as a unique opportunity to work hard during my training years so I could acquire the knowledge and skills to be highly impactful to my patients.
Are there specific conditions or treatments you have particular interest in?
During my residency, I had extensive training in skull base and cerebrovascular neurosurgery. I later completed a fellowship in complex spine and deformity surgery and another fellowship in spinal cancer and reconstruction. I treat a wide variety of conditions including brain and spinal tumors, brain aneurysms and spinal deformities. I’m also experienced in traumatic brain injuries, pituitary tumors, peripheral nerve surgery and general spine surgery, including minimally invasive procedures to treat vertebrae compression fractures, spinal stimulation implants and minimally invasive spine surgery.
Why did you choose to join Mercy and specifically Mercy South?
I saw a very collegial team of neurosurgeons here and a unique opportunity to complement the team with my surgical skills so Mercy South would be able to continue to provide excellent neurosurgical care to South County and our surrounding community.
What do you like about living in St. Louis?
St. Louis is the ideal size for a city. It has most of the conveniences of a large city without the traffic and living restrictions of cities like Chicago and New York. As a father of four and an avid runner, Forest Park is a blessing which allows me to exercise while having quality time with my wife and children.
Do you mind sharing a little about your personal life?
I am a strong believer in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Who has sustained and guided me at every step of my life. I am blessed to have a wonderful wife who is currently homeschooling our four little ones and takes care of all the details of our family life. We are blessed to live on a farm without television, surrounded by nature and caring for our animals – currently two dogs, two cats, three mini-cows, two mini-donkeys, three sheep and a brood of chickens. The ducks got lost last summer; it’s hard to control them. When I got home a few months ago and found out that my 9-, 8- and 6-year-old boys had taken my old rocking chair to their carpentry benches because they desperately "needed" wood to build a catapult in my backyard, I finally understood we made the right choices on how to educate our children and what type of life we wanted them to have.
