New NYU Winthrop pediatric surgery chief deems field a ‘sacred calling’

Rebecca Klar
Dr. Brian Gilchrist was named the new chief of pediatric surgery at NYU Winthrop Hospital. (Photo courtesy of NYU Winthrop Hospital)

Adults ask for diseases – they eat too much, drive too fast and drink too much, Dr. Brian Gilchrist said.

But kids, he said, are “total victims.”

“They don’t choose to have [diseases,] they don’t do anything wrong,” Gilchrist said.

That’s what compelled him to pursue pediatric surgery, a field he deemed a sacred calling, he said.

It’s a calling that has most recently brought him to Mineola, as Gilchrist was named the new chief of pediatric surgery at NYU Winthrop Hospital.

Gilchrist, a Brooklyn resident, brings more than 20 years of pediatric experience to the job, according to a NYU Winthrop release.

Gilchrist is currently available for consultations in his Mineola office located at 120 Mineola Blvd., suite 210. He will soon begin seeing patients in Huntington, as well.

Gilchrist’s range in medical experience spans fields from gastrointestinal tract conditions to thoracic and neck conditions.

His expertise also includes transplantation surgery. He completed a transplantation fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

Gilchrist also completed a pediatric surgery fellowship at St. Jude’s children’s Hospital

Gilchrist is a graduate of Tufts Medical School and completed his residency at Brown University/Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

He previously worked at the Boston Floating Hospital for Children and served as a combat surgeon with the 311th Evacuation Hospital during the Persian Gulf War.

He most recently worked at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, where he served as chairman of surgery.

“Being a division chief now instead of a chairman allows me to focus more on just straight pediatric surgery,” Gilchrist said.

Gilchrist said in his new position he’s also helping to develop the new surgery residency program with NYU Winthrop.

Another goal on Gilchrist’s radar is elevating NYU Winthrop’s status as a pediatric trauma center, a mission he said he’s “hell bent on doing.”

“Here [there’s] a magnificent hospital that was being sort of overshadowed by a lot of the giants,” Gilchrist said, noting the presence of Northwell Health across the island. “… And when NYU took this place over they needed some people who would take this place to the next level, and I’m very excited about that.”

NYU Winthrop’s chairman of surgery, Dr. Collin Brathwaite, said the hospital is pleased to have Gilchrist join it’s “team of stellar surgeons.”

“As we continue to raise the bar for pediatric surgical services, Dr. Gilchrist is a welcome addition to the department,” Brathwaite said in a NYU Winthrop release. “Many patients and families have already benefitted from the highly specialized and lifesaving care he provides and we know many more lives will be impacted in the days and weeks to come.”

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