Time out with T.O. – The power of mentoring

Being a mentor might be one of life’s highest callings. It can no doubt make a difference in someone’s life.

At UNMC, you need look no further than our newest endowed chair in neurosurgery — William (Billy) Thorell, M.D.

TIME OUT

WITH T.O. by Tom O’Connor

An All-City baseball player in Denver, Billy’s goal was to be a major league baseball player. With parents both from Nebraska, he decided to walk-on the Cornhusker baseball team in 1988.

It was an eye-opening experience. “I played on the bench,” Thorell likes to say. “I was the slowest of six outfielders.”

Returning to Denver after his sophomore year, Thorell’s life changed when he connected with his first mentor — William Warmath, M.D., a private practice neurosurgeon.

Dr. Warmath let Billy tag along when he did brain surgeries. “He would do surgery on an acoustic neuroma (a benign brain tumor), then I would go home and read about the cranial nerves and memorize all the information.”

He fell in love with neurosurgery, got accepted to medical school at UNMC and soon encountered his second mentor — the late Alvin Earle, Ph.D., a neuroanatomy professor.

One day Dr. Earle marched Thorell up to the neurosurgery department and introduced him to Lyal Leibrock, M.D., the chair of neurosurgery.

“Dr. Leibrock never even looked at me. He just said to Dr. Earle, ‘Is he smart?”‘

Turns out, behind Dr. Leibrock’s somewhat crusty exterior was a heart of gold. Yes, mentor No. 3 had entered Thorell’s life.

Dr. Leibrock took special care of students and residents wishing to pursue a career in neurosurgery. He gave Thorell a summer job doing research on rats with ruptured aneurysms.

As he progressed through medical school and residency at UNMC, Thorell’s appreciation for Dr. Leibrock continued to grow.

“Lyal was the complete package. He had a lot of foresight,” Thorell said. “He used to harass us in the OR. If we weren’t doing something fast enough, he would say, ‘Do you want me to do it? Do you know what you’re doing?’

“All the time, he was making us better surgeons. He was making sure we were going to the best neurosurgery meetings. He’d raise money by playing golf in Kearney with other neurosurgeons. They’d call it the Leibrock Open. They’d do anything for Lyal.”

Funny how things work out.

The endowed chair given to Thorell? Yep, you guessed it – the Lyal G. Leibrock, M.D., Chair of Neurosurgery.