Meet Dr. Timothy Mullett, cancer surgeon – and cancer survivor
Get to know Dr. Timothy Mullett, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the UK Markey Cancer Center, in our latest installment of Making the Rounds, a blog series where you’ll meet the providers at UK HealthCare.
Dr. Mullett specializes in surgical treatment for patients with lung cancer. He’s also the medical director of Markey’s Research and Affiliate networks. In addition to treating patients with cancer, Dr. Mullett is a cancer survivor himself. In 2014, he was diagnosed with liver cancer and was successfully treated at Markey.
When did you know you wanted to be a doctor?
It was one of those decisions I had made early on. I got sick when I was around 14 and I got used to being around doctors. I ended up getting better, but that left me with something that said, ‘This looks like a pretty cool place to spend some time.’
Who’s your favorite musical artist?
I’m a fan of country music. I’ve been listening to that for a long time. I’m a fan of modern country music: Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and now into Chris Stapleton.
My favorite part about music is that I put together this playlist. We have some friends that gather at the lake and I started to put together a playlist for when we’re on our boat. We’ve got my kids, some others folks and several families that are our age. Everyone contributes to this playlist that has now grown to about 780 songs. Everything from Meghan Trainor back to Eric Clapton. I love to put it on shuffle and let it go.
Describe your ideal weekend. Would it involve being on the lake?
Yeah, something on the water. Any time that I can gather with family and friends on a lake and get some water skiing in in the morning and some conversation and relaxation in in the evening. And I enjoy grilling something on the house boat.
What excites you most about working at UK HealthCare?
It’s the people we work with. The friends and contacts I’ve made here at UK are like a family, and we’re taking care of other people. We come together as a team and work together to say, ‘This is how we want to attack this problem.’ It’s great.
Check out our video interview with Dr. Mullett below. He tells us more about his work at Markey and how his own cancer diagnosis has impacted the way he cares for his patients.
