Arkansas Business

It says a lot about John R. Busby that everyone knows him as "Bo."

A former Razorback and All-Southwest Conference defensive back, and currently the founder and head of the premier cardiovascular surgery program in southeast Arkansas, Bo Busby has not let a remarkable series of successes go to his head. And if you talk to the people who know him, the word that keeps coming up is "trust."

Dr. Jim Harrell, associate professor of surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, has filled in for Busby on more than one occasion at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff, where Busby runs his heart surgery program. Harrell says Busby is above all a surgeon with integrity, compassion and patience.

"When you have someone's life in your hands on a daily basis, the patients and their families have to trust that you'll do the right thing in pressure situations. That may be the key to Bo's reputation: People just trust him."

Connie Wood, Busby's office manager, echoes Harrell's assessment.

"Dr. Busby runs his professional life with integrity," she says. "He sets the standard for himself first and that standard extends to his family, his heart team and his office."

Originally from Monticello, Busby first attracted public notice in the mid-'70s as a Razorback defensive star. After medical school at UAMS he did his surgery training at the highly respected Oeschner Hospital in New Orleans from 1982-89. It didn't take too long for Busby to discover what branch of surgery appealed most to him.

"Heart surgery was the most complex of the many kinds I came into contact with," he says. "It just kind of overwhelmed me and I thought: that's what I want to do."

Busby returned to Arkansas in 1989 and started the Cardiovascular Surgery Center of South Arkansas at JRMC on July 1 of that year. At that time southeast Arkansas had no program of its kind. From its inception the center has done all types of cardiac surgery with the exception of heart transplants.

Looking back on his football days, Busby notes a definite relationship between his athletic career and his subsequent work as a heart surgeon.

"For one thing, my football training in general gave me discipline," he recalls. "But when you're a defensive back, you're really out there by yourself. When you get beat for a touchdown, everyone and his brother gets to watch it. If you're a lineman and you hold in the middle, no one notices.

"Part of being a heart surgeon is handling that level of pressure well — knowing that a lot is depending on you and you'd better be good at thinking on your feet."

But if handling the spotlight is something both defensive backs and heart surgeons have to do, Busby adds, both also rely on the professionalism of those around them.

"To accomplish anything in sports, you have to have a good team," he says. "Similarly, any good heart program has a top-notch team. I've been very fortunate in that since I've been in Pine Bluff — about six years now — I've had the same excellent group of people working with me."

Frank Broyles, Busby's Razorback coach, remembers him as an "outstanding player and leader." But was he fast?

"Fast enough to get the job done," Broyles replies with a chuckle. "You have to remember that on defense you want more than speed. You want a person you can depend on, who's sure of himself and consistent and can think. Bo was, and is, all those things."

Busby says, "I do think self-confidence is an important quality for a heart surgeon, too. But surgeons also, I think, have to be able to read their patients and find a way to explain their condition to them. Technical ability and what you might call 'bedside manner' are really the crucial skills. Great surgeons have them both."

It may be too soon to say whether the 40-year-old Busby falls into this category. He'd rather not make that call himself. But the man who trained him, John Oeschner, doesn't mince words.

"Bo is a first-class surgeon," Oeschner says, "with fine judgment and excellent technical ability. He's also an untiring worker, and that may be his greatest attribute as a doctor.

"When he was down here, Bo would stay with a patient until he got well or died, no matter what else was calling for his attention. That can't be said of everyone in the medical field."

Busby thinks the greatest challenge heart surgeons face these days is that they're being asked to operate on older and older people.

"The general population is just older and sicker than they were 20 years ago," he says. "We're operating on patients that had bypass surgery 10 to 12 years ago. This is a big change."

But when asked whether a young intern ought to go into cardiac surgery as a speciality, Busby's response is immediate and unambiguous.

"The best way I can answer that is to explain that for me, surgery is not a job; it's a dream. It's what I've wanted to do since I was in the ninth grade, and now I'm doing it.

"So my recommendation would be if you really want to do it, go ahead and do it. Don't worry so much about what others are predicting for the health care industry. If it's your dream, go ahead and do it.

"But if you're thinking of becoming a surgeon for the money, then frankly you don't need to be doing it. Period."