SURGERY SYNOPSIS • SPRING/SUMMER 2017 • PAGE 14
#GettingToKnowDOS—Dr. Matthew Sweet
I
n this issue of Surgery
Synopsis, staff interviewed
Dr. Matthew Sweet, Asso-
ciate Professor, Divsion of
Vascular Surgery.
Synopsis: What was the
last book you read?
MS: Crossing to Safety by
Wallace Stegner. It’s a great
book about two couples who
become friends in their early
professional lives. The story
is about their time together
many decades later, so it’s about friendship, love, aging, loss, what
it is to have dreams and goals in life. The other book I recently
read was called GT which is about how to sh for giant trev-
ally (y shing is one of my favorite hobbies). I generally enjoy
reading ction, but I read a little bit of everything—biographies,
different kinds of ction, and then technical books on y shing.
Synopsis: What is the next book on your list?
MS: I have a bunch of books I’ve been meaning to read includ-
ing Moby Dick which has been on my list forever. I’ve started
it several times before and have gotten about 300 pages into
it but haven’t quite finished it yet. Another book on my list is
Fives and Twenty–Fives by Michael Pitre, which is a novel
written by an Iraq veteran about a road repair/bomb disposal
platoon.
Synopsis: Any favorite movies or TV shows?
MS: I recently watched Anthropoid, which is an incredible
movie based on the true story of two Czechoslovakian resistance
fighters who parachuted into Czechoslovakia to kill Hitler’s
third in command, who he had installed after taking over the
country. I also recently subscribed to Amazon Prime, which
was a horrible mistake because now I don’t read as much. I
recently finished The Man in High Castle, which was very
well done. It’s the story of what might have happened if the
Nazis won WWII—they drop a nuclear bomb on New York City
and take over the US east of the Rockies, and Japan invades
and takes over west of the Rockies. So the story is basically
about the US resistance fighters with an interesting sci–fi twist.
Synopsis: What is something you accomplished this past
year that you are proud of?
MS: I caught a steelhead on a fly I tied myself, and I caught
a wild steelhead by myself on the Olympic peninsula. You
can go fishing with a guide and they tell you to cast away and
you’re likely to catch something, but when you go by yourself
and you catch something on your own it’s a combination of
luck and doing things right, and then doing it with a fly you
tied yourself is very satisfying.
Synopsis: What is a favorite travel destination?
MS: I used to be really focused on cycling and went to Europe
to ride in Italy, France and Spain. More recently I’ve been
travelling to fish. British Columbia has some of the best steel-
head fishing in the world, and it’s just a few hours away. In
May I went to Christmas Island which is a small island in the
Pacific, halfway between Hawaii and Fiji. It’s this beautiful
island with a big lagoon and great saltwater fishing. One of
the unifying features of all these places is the absence of cell
service and internet.
Synopsis: What is your dream travel destination?
MS: There are too many to pick just one. I’d like to fish in
Patagonia, New Zealand, and Kamchatka (in Russia).
Synopsis: So are you fishing most weekends?
MS: Fishing is very seasonal so when it’s good it’s good, but
it’s not always so. When I’m not fishing I do a lot of cycling
and bit of trail running.
Synopsis: Do you have a goal for the coming year?
MS: I really want to catch a trigger fish. I’m interested in the GT
fish but it’s the trigger fish I really want to catch. I’ve hooked
six of them, but four times they broke the hook on my fly and
twice they swam into the corral and cut my line. Their mouth
(continued on page 15)
Dr. Matthew Sweet
Photo credit: Michael Hilleary
Dr. Matthew Sweet fishing off Oahu
This fish is a file fish—a species of trigger.
SURGERY SYNOPSIS • SPRING/SUMMER 2017 • PAGE 15
S D
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
HARKINS SYMPOSIUM &
68
TH
ANNUAL
DR. ALFRED A. STRAUSS LECTURE
Friday, October 13, 2017
Harkins Symposium
7:00am—2:30pm, Alder Auditorium
68
th
Annual Dr. Alfred A. Strauss Lecture
4:00pm, Health Sciences Building,
Hogness Auditorium
4
TH
ANNUAL FULL SPECTRUM OF
HEART FAILURE THERAPY:
MANAGING THE TRAJECTORY
Friday & Saturday, October 20–21, 2017
Four Seasons Hotel, Seattle, WA
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM &
24
TH
ANNUAL HELEN AND JOHN
SCHILLING LECTURE
Friday, February 16, 2018
Department of Surgery
Research Symposium
7:00am—2:30pm, UW Tower Auditorium
24
th
Annual
Helen and John Schilling Lecture
3:00pm, UW Tower Auditorium
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
GRAND ROUNDS
See monthly Grand Rounds schedule
under Upcoming Special Events
on our website.
is made of bone because they chew coral to eat the crabs and
fish that live in it, so they can bite through the metal hooks.
They are just incredibly strong fish, these little bulldozers,
so even when you hook one the chance of landing it is low.
Synopsis: What do you do when you catch them? MS: I just
catch and release. Synopsis: Do you have any other upcom-
ing goals that aren’t fish–related? MS: [laughs] Not really.
Synopsis: Do you collect anything?
MS: I used to collect jazz music but that’s tapered off. I was
a big jazz–head when I was in residency. Synopsis: Do you
play jazz? MS: I played piano as a kid and I played bass
when I was in college. But I was horrible—not just bad—I
was horrible, like Elaine’s “little kicks” dancing in Seinfeld.
Horrible.
Synopsis: What would you be if not a surgeon?
MS: If I wasn’t in medicine, I would love to be doing some-
thing outdoors. Maybe something like a park ranger. I wouldn’t
want to work all alone or somewhere like the deep in the
recesses of Alaska but I would love to be in the mountains,
doing something with my hands and working outdoors.
Synopsis: Are you team iPhone or Android and what is your
favorite phone app?
MS: iPhone and I like Instagram. Synopsis: For fish photos?
MS: Yup, for fish photos. Synopsis: Do you post any of the
photos? MS: No comment [laughs]—OK, yes I do.
#GettingToKnowDOS—Dr. Matthew Sweet
Continued from page 14
Dr. Matthew Sweet fishing for steelhead with his dog, Atticus.
