Faulty Profile: Daniel Ganger, MD

By: Tiffany Chen (MSJ 18)
Northwestern Medill School of Journalism

A picture of a relative who studied medicine standing in a white coat is imprinted in Daniel Ganger’s, MD, professor of Medicine and Surgery, childhood memories. There was something magical about that pure white coat and the notion behind it – making peoples’ lives better. 

At the age of 15, Ganger decided to become a doctor. Now, he is standing in the same white coat, making hospital rounds, mentoring young physicians and treating patients with care.

“No regrets. No looking back. It was the right decision. I’m blessed to love what I do.” he said.

Many people recognize Ganger from his contribution to acute liver failure studies. Recently, he is focusing on developing a predictive model for heart and liver transplant. Depending on how the liver is affected by the patient’s heart disease, he assesses if the patient needs a heart transplant or a combined heart-liver transplant.

“I would say the decisions we make, what I’m involved in, are at very high stakes,” said Ganger. “In some way, I’m a little jealous of the Europeans who know how to centralize data and work together. In the U.S., it’s too isolated sometimes.”

To tackle that, Ganger is creating a network of doctors with the same interest in heart and liver transplant to figure out a better way to evaluate patients. He believes the way to move medicine forward is to collaborate with people across various fields of study.

“My dream before I retire, whenever that is, is for Northwestern to be a center of excellence for heart and liver transplants,” said Ganger. “I want Northwestern to be one of the best centers where people from the Midwest visit.”

Working as a physician for almost 43 years, Ganger understands the emotional and financial burden that comes with the medical conditions. He addresses his patients as humans who have a life, a job, a family and emotions, instead of merely a medical problem. In many cases, he follows his patient from pre-transplant to post-transplant. He enjoys seeing his patients with a new liver and healthy.

“Maybe because I grew up in Latin America, people seem to be somewhat warmer, a little more personal there,” said Ganger. “I have patients that I’ve seen for 15 years, 20 years. They become family.”

While a lot of physicians that are Ganger’s age are trying to catch up with the latest technology, he embraces it. He is looking forward to the future with artificial intelligence merging with the field of medicine to improve patients’ health. Especially, in his area of specialty, organ transplantation. However, it doesn’t mean for robotics to take over. Ganger stresses the cruciality of the element of “human touch” for patients, and how it plays a role in providing clinical care.

“Technology has obviously transferred to benefit the patients,” said Ganger. “The problem is how people will be able to merge the technology but still keep that very important human touch that a physician has.”

Ganger feels that the key to running a busy clinic is to make the patient feel that physicians hear them and addresses their problems, in one word, respect.

“Make eye contact with the patient, so they feel like they have spent two hours with you, instead of 10 minutes,” Ganger tells his students. “Know what you’re there for. You’re there to help somebody who has a health problem [and] treat people well. It’s as simple as that, but occasionally people forget that,” he said.

Ganger has seen the institution grow since he started his fellowship at Northwestern University in 1984. He is amazed by how far the school advanced nationally in academics and clinical research. He is also inspired by how intelligent and accomplished that his students are.

“I was never perfect,” said Ganger. “Medicine is not easy. It’s a difficult job. There’s a lot of stress and you have to like what you do.”

Surgery is not a specialty where physicians can be perfect, but Ganger is proud of his work. He is excited to see how new technology will revolutionize the medical field and improve the patient’s health. Moreover, he is proud of being a part of the institution that is continuously progressing.

“Medicine is to make people better. That’s the role of a physician,” said Ganger. “I want to look back one day and say I helped people.”