Dr. Okochi joined JMSA as a member in the Spring of 2024. We are very excited to spotlight Dr. Okochi who writes about his path to becoming a pediatric surgeon and what motivates him to join JMSA as a member. Dr. Okochi volunteered his time and efforts right after joining as a member to help out at the JMSA Kids Science Form in April. He organized a hands on laparoscope station with Dr. Mio Sawai and taught children from the community how to maneuver a laparoscope.

My story:

I was born in Brooklyn, New York as the eldest son to two wonderful parents who emigrated from Aichi and Nagano prefectures in Japan. During my childhood, I spoke Japanese as my first language with my parents and learned Japanese through the Japanese Weekend School of Long Island (LI Hoshuko). I grew up through the public school system in New York City and attended Stuyvesant High School. From there, I completed my undergraduate studies at Emory University and decided to pursue a career in medicine. I was accepted into medical school at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn, NY and developed an interest in surgery during my clinical rotations. After graduating medical school, I stayed at SUNY Downstate for the first two years of categorical general surgery training and was offered a two-year fellowship in pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) at Columbia University Medical Center after the second year. During this fellowship, I had the opportunity to take care of some of the sickest children in the hospital and I developed a love for pediatric surgery and ECMO. At the end of my fellowship, I was fortunate to stay at Columbia University Medical Center to complete the remaining three years of general surgery residency. I went on to complete a pediatric surgery fellowship at Rady Children’s Hospital-UC San Diego in California under Dr. Karen Kling, a former JMSA scholarship recipient and invaluable contributor to JMSA. Following this, I completed a pediatric surgical critical care fellowship at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to finish my training. In 2023, I was recruited back to New York City to join the faculty at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Icahn School of Medicine where I am currently Assistant Professor of Surgery, Director of Pediatric Surgical Critical Care and Surgical Director of pediatric ECMO. In my free time, I enjoy outdoor activities such as fishing and running. I joined JMSA as a way to start giving back to the Japanese community of New York that helped make me the person that I am today. A career in surgery is challenging on many levels and I have relied on a village of mentors and friends to get me to where I am. Now that I have finally completed my surgical training, my goal is to support future generations of Japanese physicians through JMSA to make this path just a little bit easier to tread.

Shunpei Okochi, MD

Assistant Professor of Surgery

Director of Pediatric Surgical Critical Care

Surgical Director of Pediatric Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Kravis Childrens Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital