Our guest today is Paul A. Ruggieri, M.D., a practicing board-certified general/laparoscopic surgeon who has been active for over 20 years. 
Dr. Paul A. Ruggieri has experienced and lived through his profession’s best and worst. In his first book, “Confessions of a Surgeon: The Good, the Bad, and the Complicated,” (still available on Amazon or Barnes and Noble), he pushed open the doors to give the public a startling view of what goes on inside the operating room. In his latest book, “Confessions of a Surgeon: A Deeper Cut,” Dr. Ruggieri blows the operating room doors right off their hinges. This newest book cuts deeper into the profession and is more mysterious than ever before. Dr. Ruggieri candidly shares his thoughts on the patients that have impacted his life the most. He also exposes how surgeons (including himself) and the surgical profession have dramatically changed since the first time he nervously picked up a scalpel blade as a naïve surgical intern.
Dr. Ruggieri performed his surgical training at the world-renowned Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes Hospital, in St. Louis. He then spent three years as an active-duty general surgeon in the U.S. Army. He is the former chief of the surgery department at a large community hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts, the hospital he helped build as an ironworker before attending medical school nearly 30 years ago. Dr. Ruggieri has written several books for patients. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife and three stepsons. To purchase Dr. Ruggieri recent book, visit either Barnes and Noble or Amazon.