Today we’d like to introduce you to Leonel Hunt.
Hi Leonel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am the youngest of three children raised by a single mother. Our father died when my siblings and I were the ages of 5, 6, and 7. My mother was a widow at 28 years old with three young kids to raise. My father died from leukemia within months of graduating from medical school at the age of 32. This may have been the spark that lit the fire. My sister Dr. Ramona Hunt, who is the oldest, went to college and medical school at Loma Linda University and is now a family medicine physician in Orlando, FL. My brother Dr. Gabriel Hunt, Jr. went to college and medical school at UCLA. After finishing his neurosurgery training at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, he is now an attending neurosurgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
My struggles began from birth. I was born ten weeks premature with multiple health issues but overcame them all to have a normal healthy childhood. Growing up in South Florida, we definitely had our struggles. My siblings and I all started working at an early age just to help my mother make ends meet. I have done it all. From picking oranges and cutting grass as a child to working in fast food chains mopping floors and cleaning toilets. We did what we had to do to survive.
I was fortunate enough to receive a full academic scholarship to The Johns Hopkins University where I received my degree in Biomedical engineering with concentrations in Material science and Life science/physiology. I then received a full scholarship to attend The University of Southern California School of Medicine. I completed an internship in general surgery at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and a residency in orthopedic surgery at St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco. I further completed specialty training in Orthopedic surgery of the spine, focusing on both adult and pediatric spinal disorders at the San Diego Center for Spinal Disorders in La Jolla, California. I have been an attending surgeon at The Spine Center and Orthopedic Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center since 2004. I am also the former Director of Spine Trauma at Cedars-Sinai. This is a position I held for many years.
Over a decade ago, my brother and I founded The Hunt Foundation which is a non-profit organization charged with the mission of taking medicine beyond our borders to bring education and healthcare to parts of the world that lack adequate access. This mission has taken us all over the world including Gabon in West Africa as well as Ethiopia. We currently have several projects underway which include providing support for rebuilding schools and hospitals as well as providing lifesaving/life-changing medical equipment and physician education.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I would say the greatest obstacle on this journey in medicine and life is constantly having to overcome judgments and stereotypes placed on me because of the color of my skin. I walk into a room and people see a Black man with tattoos and immediately think I am something other than what I am. No one ever looks at me and thinks that I am an accomplished surgeon, even after knowing my reputation. I always hear, “I wasn’t expecting you to walk through the door” or “Are you the doctor?”
I graduated from medical school at the age of 25. It has been 25 years and I am still fighting those same battles. The only difference is now I have a louder voice and when I speak, people listen.
I live my life knowing that I must be exceptional to be considered as good.
One of, if not the toughest year of my life was 2016 when I spent a year battling cancer. Every day getting up to go to work, to be present and available for others was a struggle in and of itself. Interestingly enough, that is where I found peace. It gave me the space to not focus on me and made what I was going through much easier to manage. It taught me empathy and it definitely made me a more compassionate physician and human.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Hunt Spine/The Hunt Foundation?
I am a board-certified Orthopedic spine surgeon. My practice is based at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I work with my brother Dr. Gabriel Hunt who is a board-certified Neurosurgeon. We have been in practice for the past 19 years. We are a unique team that brings the best of both specialties to solve all spine-related issues. I am the former Co-director of Spine trauma at Cedars. I specialize in the treatment of spine trauma, adult and pediatric scoliosis, spine tumors, and all degenerative spinal conditions utilizing various surgical techniques including augmented reality and image-guidance robotic surgery, artificial disc replacements, and various other minimally invasive techniques. I also have a degree in Biomedical engineering which gives me a unique perspective on biomechanics and allows me to focus on the development of new and innovative technologies.
My brother and I are also the founders of The Hunt Foundation, which was started with the intention of bringing healthcare and education to regions of the world that would not have access otherwise.
Being able to work side by side with my brother with the purpose of changing lives and making a difference around the globe is the complete fulfillment of my life’s work.
In 2022, I along with life coach Kenneth “Coach KJ” Johnson started “Sippin On Excellence With Coach KJ and Doc”. It is a weekly podcast that discusses various topics about life that we all have opinions or questions about but are too afraid to speak up.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The greatest lesson learned from covid is the importance of community. We all depend on each other to survive. I think that we all have realized that this is one world. We were all affected regardless of station in life, race, religion, geography, etc. I also learned in times of crisis, people show their true colors, good and bad. You learn how precious life can be.
Contact Info:
- Website: huntspine.com thehuntfoundation.org podcastsoe.com
- Instagram: @leonelhunt @thehuntfoundation @soe_podcast
Image Credits
Leonel Hunt. Hunt Spine website
