Dr. Benjamin L. Hechler

Carmelo Milano is a General Surgeon and a Transplant Surgeon in Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Milano has been practicing medicine for over 35 years is highly rated in 12 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Tricuspid Regurgitation, Constrictive Pericarditis, Heart Tumor, Heart Transplant, and Heart Bypass Surgery.

Throughout my medical career, I have remained dedicated to improving my patients' quality of life. As a specialist in adult cervical and spinal deformity surgery, I understand the significant impact our interventions have on individuals suffering from debilitating pain and physical and mental health challenges. Spinal deformity surgery merges the complexities of spinal biomechanics with the needs of an aging population. My research focuses on spinal alignment, biomechanics, innovative surgical techniques, and health economics to ensure value-based care that enhances patient outcomes. Dr. Passias is highly rated in 23 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Kyphosis, Lordosis, Scoliosis, Osteotomy, and Spinal Fusion.

With over 20 years of experience as a busy general thoracic surgeon, I am referred patients with cancers in the chest and other difficult problems involving all the organs of the chest that are not from cancer. One of the things that attracted me to the field is the long-term relationship with my patients. I tell all my patients that I’m their doctor for life. I see patients for many, many years. Back in 2000, when we had a 26-inch snow here -- it was a Tuesday -- on my clinic day, everyone said no one would come to clinic. But I actually had 23 or 24 patients show up in four-wheel drives. It’s not that I’m such a fabulous doctor that they came to see me. It’s that they are cancer patients and this was their annual visit or their follow up. It was important to them. So we were here for them, and they came. I enjoy seeing my patients back 12, 13, 14 years later and learning what they’ve been up to and what their families have been up to. That’s a bond you get in oncology that a lot of other fields don’t have that treat patients then turn them back over to their primary care physicians. We as a team follow people, and I like that. Dr. Harpole is highly rated in 14 conditions, according to our data. His top areas of expertise are Lung Cancer, Mesothelioma, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), Endoscopy, and Advanced Bronchoscopy.