The new face at Baylor Scott & White Neurosurgery and Spine Associates in McKinney is Dr. Seong-Jin Moon, from South Korea. “When my mom first came to the States, I remember sitting in the doctor’s office and we couldn’t really speak English. It was very confusing … because of the language barrier and the medical jargon,” said Dr. Moon.
Dr. Moon was drawn by Dallas’ reputation as a great place to raise a family. Relational ties anchor his intentions. “My goal is to help people get back to their loved ones,” he told us. “If this were my mom and dad, I’d want to have the right thing done for them…that is what drives my work every day.”
We spoke to Dr. Moon and to Dr. Brent C. Morgan, a board certified neurosurgeon and the Medical Director of Neurosurgical Services at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center (BSW McKinney), to pick their brains – no pun intended – about the brain and spine.
Spine-Tingling Brain Power
A pituitary tumor in the brain captured Dr. Moon. When he was able to observe surgery on that first case he took as a medical student, he never looked back. “I got hooked,” he said.
While brain surgery is a major operation, Dr. Moon is skilled in a minimally invasive method that leaves only a small scar above the eyebrow. Only certain patients with specific lesions make good candidates for the technique, but the doctor said that sometimes, “patients aren’t even sure we were there.”
That’s true even for benign tumors. The Plano-raised medical director of neurosurgical services, Dr. Morgan, explained. “The brain is high-priced real estate. It’s not like rural land. It’s like downtown in New York City.”
BSW’s Neurosurgery and Spine Associates offers advanced brain care, but spinal conditions afflict many more people than do brain conditions. Complex spine disorders can impair sexual function, balance, walking, control of the bowels or bladder, and more. Physicians at BSW Neurosurgery and Spine Associates nail down the right diagnosis and provide treatment options. Conservative measures like medication, physical therapy, and injections are often the first resort, so that patients first exhaust all other nonsurgical routes to healing. A minimally invasive spine surgery technique is also offered at the BSW McKinney facility, though larger surgeries may be necessary to relieve pain and restore function.
Robotics
Robotic surgery defines the frontier of spinal surgery. “We were one of the first hospitals in Dallas to start doing robotic surgery,” said Dr. Morgan. The robot makes their work “much more precise,” he added.
Dr. Moon added, “Not many hospitals across the country have , but we do and it’s an advantage to the community in McKinney … It usually affords patients shorter operative time, less blood loss, accuracy in placing a screw, and a better overall outcome,” he said. “It’s such a privilege that I have the tools to take care of patients.”
Physicians are employees of HealthTexas Provider Network, a member of Baylor Scott & White Health. ©2024 Baylor Scott & White Health.
