In medical school, Dr. Atallah excelled in surgery and the study of human anatomy. By the time he became a senior medical student, Dr. Atallah was a teaching assistant for anatomy.
As a student, Dr. Atallah was mainly interested in surgery. This photograph was taken during his first clerkship rotation as a third-year medical student, were he scrubbed with gyn-oncology surgeons. Early exposure to the operating room helped develop his decision to become a surgeon.
Dr. Atallah (right) - then a third year med student - is scrubbed in to surgery at Parkland Hospital (Dallas, TX) with gyn-onc residents and staff during the resection of a 35cm ovarian tumor. It was one of his first experiences in the operating room.