Fredric Meyer, MD’81: Hard Work Drives Success

Since his graduation from BU’s medical school, Fredric Meyer, MD’81, steadily climbed up the administrative and academic ranks at Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic, beginning as a neurosurgery resident, then as an assistant, associate and full professor of neurosurgery, to chair of neurosurgery.

In 2016, Meyer was named to his current position as executive dean of education for the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and dean of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine.

In addition to these duties, Meyer remains a practicing neurosurgeon, specializing in brain tumors. He also travels between Mayo’s campuses located in Phoenix, Arizona, and Jacksonville, Florida. He has been executive director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery since 2015.

Along the way, he and his wife Irene Meissner, MD, raised six children.

Meyer attributes his success to the work ethic passed down from his father and learned during a decade working at a Martha’s Vineyard fish house and on fishing vessels.

“I would consider myself very un-special from an academic perspective,” he said.

Meyer was drawn to BU by what he called the rare pairing of a medical school and a hospital dedicated to caring for the health of the poorer members of society.

“I thought it was pretty special and was much more consistent with the calling of medicine, where you are supposed to take care of everyone,” Meyer said. He praised Boston Medical Center’s Geriatric Home Care Program, founded in 1875 and the oldest, continuously operating in-home medical service in the United States, providing diagnosis and treatment to home-bound seniors over 70.

“That was so visionary, so unique. A lot of medical schools still don’t have that,” said Meyer. “To me the mission (to serve the marginalized and underserved in health care) was beautiful.”

While at BU, Meyer was influenced by many outstanding faculty but three immediately come to his mind: William McNary, MD, professor of anatomy and the first dean of students at the medical school; Kenneth Edelin, MD, chair of obstetrics & gynecology from 1978-1989 and an outspoken advocate for women’s reproductive rights; and Edward Spatz, MD, professor of neurosurgery for over 40 years.

“The impression they left on me was that the needs of the patient come first,” said Meyer.

Spatz was his mentor and the reason he became a neurosurgeon.

“He was so devoted to his patients…To me he was a beautiful spirit; very humble, very modest,” said Meyer.

Although he has lived in Minnesota for most of his life, Meyer has strong Massachusetts roots. He grew up in Springfield, and family vacations were on Martha’s Vineyard, a tradition that continues to this day. This June, he’ll drive from Minnesota to the family summer home in Aquinnah on the island where he flyfishes for striped bass and albacore.

After his first two choices for residency programs didn’t work out, Meyer flew to the Mayo Clinic medical center for an interview with Ross Miller, MD, chair of the department of neurological surgery, and Thoralf Sundt, a professor of neurological surgery. Sundt was a distinguished brain surgeon who once operated on President Ronald Reagan.

As the interview progressed, the conversation turned to fishing, his work at the fish market and on a swordfishing boat. Meyer initially thought the fishing conversation meant he’d come up short on another interview, but the two neurosurgeons were impressed by his work ethic, and Sundt called him to offer him a residency position.

“We’ve decided to offer you a job because what we want are people who are going to work really hard,” Meyer recalled Sundt telling him over the phone.

He took that to heart and, as a resident, was on call every other night for two years.

“I never left the hospital,” Meyer said.

Meyer was inspired by Sundt, a pioneer in the development of microsurgery of the cerebrovascular system. Even when stricken with a cancer that made his bones brittle and caused him to become progressively weaker, Sundt continued operating almost right up to his death at age 62.

“He really cared about his patients,” said Meyer. “He was very sick and worked in a back brace in the operating room and was in constant pain, but to see him suffer and yet adhere to the principles of patient care was inspiring.”

Meyer said Sundt told him that “life is short, and it’s not all about work.”

“It’s important to remember your family, your friends, particularly your family, and devote time to them,” he recalled Sundt telling him.

“I have six children and I try really hard to be a good father,” said Meyer. He’d frequently leave the hospital after a day of surgeries and go straight to his children’s swim meets.

It’s been eight years since Meyer was chosen to lead the College of Medicine and Science, which includes the medical school, graduate medical education, biomedical sciences, professional development and health sciences education, with more than 4,300 students and trainees in over 450 educational programs on three campuses. Meyer is proud of achieving his goal of lifting the rankings of the medical school into the top 10 nationally and of the school’s increased diversity with one-third of students from underrepresented populations.

Fishing has been a lifelong refuge from the pressure of his career.

“Almost all neurosurgeons who do cranial surgery deal with death and dying,” said Meyer, who is a catch-and-release fisherman.

“Like any real fly fisherman, it doesn’t really matter if you catch anything. It’s just being out there in nature. The water, the way it wrinkles over the stones, the beauty of the stones being washed by the water, and the foliage…It’s an escape from reality.”