Frank Hanley, MD

I'm a pediatric cardiac surgeon. Every day, I go into the operating room and perform surgical procedures that correct serious and sometimes life-threatening heart defects in young babies and children.

I love my field, because a child can arrive with a 1 percent chance of survival and, because of my expertise, I can turn that into a 99 percent survival rate. It's extremely rewarding work.

Most of the children we operate on are young, and their parents are unprepared emotionally to learn their newborn baby has a heart defect or to hear the words "life-threatening." My approach is to make them feel as comfortable as possible by explaining to them that this is routine work for us. This is what we do best, so know that you will get through this and your baby will be fine.