Dr. Andrew Eisenhauer says he was initially something of a mentor to Dr. Michael Davidson, who was shot and killed at Brigham and Women's Hospital on Tuesday by a gunman who then turned the gun on himself.
“But I hesitate to say that I taught him, because Mike was almost always the smartest man in the room,” Eisenhauer said.
Davidson was remembered Wednesday by colleagues at Brigham and Women’s as an outstanding surgeon and a great friend. Eisenhauer and three other doctors sat down to share memories of their colleague and friend with members of the press, and he said he’s not just saying nice things out of obligation.
“You all should be absolutely assured that Michael Davidson was one of the kindest, and the best physicians and men that ever walked on this earth,” Eisenhauer said.
Eisenhauer says Davidson always demonstrated to his patients how much he cared about them. He didn’t rush through his consultations with them.
“The conversation would be over only when he was satisfied that the person he was speaking with had been well served," he said. "He just couldn’t do it any other way."
Dr. Charles Morris first met Davidson in college at Princeton. The two reunited when they both began working at Brigham and Women’s. Morris says Davidson managed to excel at a lot more than just medicine.
“I don’t know how he did all that he did in the time allotted," Morris said. "It makes me feel, frankly, inadequate."
Morris says he shared Davidson’s love of fly fishing, although they didn’t get out on the river together as often as he’d have liked.
“I went back through and we have countless bragging emails about fish we should catch, or didn’t catch, or look what someone else caught,” he said.
Eisenhauer remembered one time he went fly fishing with Davidson.
“I said, 'Gee, that’s a nice rod — where’d you get that?'" he said. "He said, 'I made it.' I said, 'What do you mean you made it?' He said, 'Yeah, I made it. I remember when I was in my training at night there wasn’t a lot to do sometimes, and so I brought it into the on-call room. And I made this other rod, too. And I’m making a rod for my father.' I don’t know how he found the time to do any of that."
Of course, Eisenhauer says, the rod was beautifully made, and even included some design innovations, a trait Davidson also showed in his career.
Dr. Pinak Shah says he was a visionary who researched and practiced a combination of traditional cardiac surgery with less invasive techniques such as the use of catheters.
“He knew that this was the way that we’re going to be taking care of patients in the future," Shah said. "And I think thanks to his innovative mind, his burning desire to push things along, and I think just an incredible skill set, we have developed a very strong program in hybrid surgical/interventional approaches for taking care of complex heart patients."
And Shah and Dr. Daniel Wiener knew Davidson in another capacity — as a bandmate, with a group the doctors called Off Label .
"Mike was an incredible friend, an incredible father, husband, and an amazing lead guitarist, actually,” Weiner said.
Davidson leaves behind three children — a 2-year-old son, and daughters aged 7 and 9. Eisenhauer says when you went to their house, you could see the love.
“I guess you could best say, if you had to pick a father, you’d pick Mike,” he said.
Davidson's wife, Terri, is seven months pregnant with their fourth child. Davidson was 44 years old.
