“Yes” is a powerful word for Mary Gallagher, director of education for the Department of Neurological Surgery.
As she reflected on the last four decades ahead of her retirement on July 31, Gallagher remembers the first big “yes” that came in 1982.
“I graduated high school at 17. Three days later, my parents sold the house, put me up in an apartment with my two sisters and said, ‘Good luck,’” said Gallagher, who grew up in Hancock County, Indiana, as the youngest of 11 children.
Gallagher landed a job processing claims at an insurance agency but didn’t enjoy the work. One day while playing competitive volleyball with some friends, she was asked if she would be interested in joining the team at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
“One of the guys I used to play with was the business manager of the neurosurgery group at IU,” Gallagher said. “He said, ‘Hey, we’re looking for a patient representative. Are you interested?’ Without hesitation I said, ‘Yes!’”
That role quickly evolved as Gallagher ended up managing the billing department and then was asked to take over the residency training program.
“When residency training requirements started to get more complicated, the department needed someone to figure out this new thing and everyone was like, ‘Mary will do it,’” Gallagher recalled. “At the time, all I had to rely on was a little folder of information from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). This was all new to me, but I never felt intimidated.”
The neurosurgery division at that time had only five neurosurgeons: Robert Campbell, MD; John Mealey, MD; John Kalsbeck, MD; Robert Worth, MD; and Peter Hall, MD. Gallagher said she learned a lot about neurosurgery training and the field in general from that group by sitting in on meetings, taking notes and asking questions.
“They all saw something in me,” Gallagher said, “especially Dr. Campbell, who always brought me along and helped instill a confidence in me that I could figure it out.”
Gallagher leaves lasting impact on students
Gallagher not only “figured it out” — she became the education expert, helping more than 75 neurosurgeons graduate from the Department of Neurological Surgery’s residency program during her tenure.
Laurie Ackerman, MD, John E. Kalsbeck Professor of Pediatric Neurosurgery, first met Gallagher in 2003 during her fellowship training in pediatric neurological surgery at Riley Children’s Health.
Even then, before joining faculty in 2007, Ackerman said it was clear Gallagher was the go-to person. She remembers Gallagher helping coordinate resident interviews and mock oral boards.
“Mary’s impact on the program is profound. She is the person everyone — chairs of neurosurgery, faculty, residents and students — turns to with questions and concerns,” Ackerman said. “She has been a guiding force for all, and (she) keeps the steering on the straight and narrow.
“I will miss her knowledge base. She had encyclopedic knowledge of the program and will leave behind big shoes to fill.”
Scott Mitchell, MD, a PGY 6 neurological surgery resident, said he heard of Gallagher from a coordinator before he even applied to the IU School of Medicine.
“They told me about how amazing she was at mentoring residents and that proved to be true,” Mitchell said. “From the moment that you match, Mary is your lifeline. Her loyalty, dedication, commitment, persistence and communication skills are phenomenal. She has made my residency experience easy from a logistical perspective.”
Watching the professional and personal growth in students from their first to last years of residency and beyond, Gallagher said, has been the most rewarding part of her job.
“When you go to these conferences and you see former residents that have come form your training program in these leadership roles doing great things, it’s wonderful,” she said. “It makes me emotional when residents tell me how I made a difference in helping them achieve their dreams of becoming a neurosurgeon. Nothing beats that feeling.”
‘The backbone of neurosurgery’
In addition to her work at the IU School of Medicine, Gallagher has shined as a leader on a national level. She was the president of the Association of Residency Administrators in Neurological Surgery and served as an assistant to the secretary of the Society of Neurological Surgeons and in the same role for the Neurological Society of America when Mitesh Shah, MD, chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery, served as its president.
Shah said Gallagher isn’t just retiring, she’s graduating from a lifetime of being the backbone of neurosurgery at the IU School of Medicine.
“She’s the steady hand, the wise voice, and the person who always knew what needed to be done," Shah said. "Even if it wasn’t in her job description, she would go the extra mile. She’s the kind of person who makes the place a better place just by being there.”
It was thanks to Gallagher’s four decades of service, Shah said, that the department’s education programs gained a national and international presence, attracting high-quality trainees from across the world to provide neurosurgical care for generations to come.
“People nationally admire your work and diligence,” Shah said in a speech recognizing Gallagher in June during the department’s resident graduation celebration.
“On behalf of the faculty, residents, alumni, students and the colleagues at IU School of Medicine, thank you, thank you, thank you,” he said. “You deserve this opportunity to retire and to enjoy the next phase of your life. We will miss you.
Gallagher’s parting advice to current and incoming residents and fellows is simple: say “yes.”
She would have never gone on a safari adventure in western Kenya with residents and faculty as part of the AMPATH program or met “some of the smartest people in the world” if she hadn’t said that three-letter word 43 years ago.
“Take advantage of whatever opportunities may come up,” Gallagher said.
