An Interview with Ralph V. Clayman, MD
Dr. Ralph V. Clayman is a Distinguished Professor of Urology and Dean (emeritus) at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate degree at Grinnell College and medical school at the University of California, San Diego. His general surgery internship, training in urology, and first academic post were all completed at the University of Minnesota. During that time, he co-founded the Endourology Society with Drs. Smith, Badlani, and Segura.
In 1984, he was recruited to the division of Urology at Washington University, where he rose to the rank of professor with tenure. In 1986, he and Dr. Smith became the first editors of the Journal of Endourology, a position he would hold for over three decades. In 1987, Dr. Clayman initiated the first fellowship program in endourology (i.e., minimally invasive urologic surgery). In 1990, he and Dr. Kavoussi led the team that performed the world’s first laparoscopic nephrectomy, and in 1991 he was a member of the team that performed the world’s first laparoscopic prostatectomy.
In 2002, Dr Clayman accepted a position at the University of California – Irvine, as a tenured professor and chair of the newly established Department of Urology. During his time as chair, the department was listed among the top twenty urology programs in the United States. In 2009, he became Dean of the School of Medicine at UC Irvine, serving a five-year term and then returning to the Department of Urology as co-director of the Curiosity and Innovation Laboratory while maintaining his clinical work in the area of urolithiasis.
Dr. Clayman is the recipient of numerous national and international awards. He holds twenty-six patents and has published over 500 peer reviewed manuscripts and four books. He has had the privilege of training over thirty-five fellow in endourology, most of whom have entered academia, including six who are currently chairs of their respective departments of urology.
Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
Easy to find as it was a seared into my memory during my internship in surgery.
How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?
Relieved that what I had set out to do nearly two years ago was now a fait accompli.
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
Life experience in the area of creativity and innovation in the surgical realm.
What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?
I have been in medicine/surgery since entering medical school in 1969—so over half a century. Readers would not know that I enjoy roasting my own coffee, my love of fountain pens/ink/and paper, and my ongoing interest in the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln.
What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?
Nothing in particular … just getting it all together and completed. So, seeing the book in hard cover on October 3 and thus being able to complete the right eye of the Daruma doll that was dated 11/3/2024.
If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?
It would all be classic rock.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?
Understanding the important questions that need to be answered before undertaking an innovative endeavor. The essentials of the five H’s in becoming an effective and meaningful healer: honesty, hard work, humility, humor, and heart (as in empathy).
Perfect reader: Someone aspiring to become a physician/current medical students/surgical interns/surgeons in general, as well as individuals in the biotech industry.
What creative projects are you currently working on?
Multiple laboratory projects with regards to less invasive surgery: electromotive drug administration in the upper urinary tract, novel ureteroscopes for stone removal, study of titanium as a graft in the urinary tract, etc. There are over fifty ongoing projects in my laboratory at the moment.
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