Dr. Singh Performs 3,000th Robotic Surgery

This week, general surgeon T. Paul Singh, MD, performed the 3,000th robotic surgery of his career.

“It was a revision to gastric bypass surgery,” said Dr. Singh, who stepped out of the operating room, briefly, in between procedures to mark the occasion with members of his surgical team who were waiting to congratulate him with balloons and cupcakes.

“Two things distinguish robotic surgery at Albany Med,” he said. “Our team”—he nodded to the surgical techs, nurses, nurse anesthetists and others assembled around him­—“and our technology. That combination is what allows us to provide such good outcomes to our patients.”

Dr. Singh, who directs the bariatric program and who is considered one of the top robotic general surgeons in the nation, has been instrumental in building Albany Med’s Robotic Surgery program which was instituted in 2003 and has now served tens of thousands of patients for procedures in cardiac, general, urogynecological, urological and pediatric surgery.

Robotic-assisted surgery is a human-led endeavor, guided by a surgeon who uses computer technology to move “wristed” instruments that bend and rotate far behind the range of the human hand. An entire surgical team is called upon to ensure a procedure’s success.

After a happy exchange of congratulations, the team headed back to work. “We’ve got to stay sharp,” Dr. Singh said, “so we’re ready for the next three thousand.”