First-generation American and anesthesiology resident Sungyoung (Hiva) Lee, MD ’23, is proving that medicine and invention go hand in hand, blending clinical care with innovation.
Sungyoung (Hiva) Lee, MD ’23, remembers the courage it took for his parents to start over. Immigrants from Korea, they came to the U.S. with the drive to build something better.
His father became a professor, his mother a nurse. That legacy shaped everything for him. As a first-generation American and the first doctor in his family, Dr. Lee always felt a responsibility to make the most of the opportunities his parents worked for.
But medicine wasn’t always a clear or traditional path.
Before he enrolled at American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC), he played Division I football for Brigham Young University while juggling pre-med courses.
“I always knew I wanted a career helping people in a way where I would never question if I was making an impact,” he says.
Healthcare offered that opportunity.
Now a resident in anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Lee is also carving out space as an inventor—an identity he developed well before residency.
Inventing His Own Path
Dr. Lee’s journey as an inventor started far from the operating room. As a classically trained musician, he became frustrated by traditional music stands that could only hold two pages at a time. “Instead of flipping pages mid-performance or having my sheet music fly off in a draft, I thought what if I could just see more of it at once?”
The result was a practical, portable extension for music stands that could hold four sheets of music securely. It worked, and it resonated. The Piano Guys, a popular music group with millions of followers, saw potential in the product and partnered with him to sell it.
“That experience really showed me what it meant to take an idea, build something tangible and share it with people who could benefit from it.”
Merging Medicine and Innovation
As Dr. Lee transitioned into medicine, his lens for innovation sharpened. “Healthcare is full of inefficiencies, some of which directly impact patient safety,” he says. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he noticed a recurring issue—physicians, nurses and other healthcare workers cloaked in head-to-toe PPE, could forget to sanitize their stethoscope and end up using the same stethoscope from one ICU patient to the next, even after switching rooms and protective gear. “It didn’t make sense. We could be doing everything to prevent transmission except cleaning the tool we put directly on patients.”
So, he developed a UV-sanitizing stethoscope attachment designed to disinfect the device between uses with minimal effort. It’s currently in development through Mayo Clinic’s Innovation Exchange, along with the Mayo Clinic Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy, which supports physician-led innovation with pathways for commercialization and clinical integration.
Through the Innovation Academy, Dr. Lee collaborates with other forward-thinking residents to explore the frontiers of AI, medical device design and healthcare systems improvement. His focus remains on creating tools that are simple, scalable and impactful, whether for clinicians on the frontlines or patients in vulnerable situations.
On the Cutting Edge of Anesthesiology
Dr. Lee’s residency at Mayo Clinic has been transformative. “Sometimes I walk through the halls and realize I’m learning from the people who write today’s medical guidelines and textbooks,” he says. With two years remaining in his training, he’s already thinking ahead to how he can shape the field.
He sees anesthesiology as a specialty uniquely positioned for advancement, especially with the integration of artificial intelligence and monitoring technologies.
“We’re facing a physician shortage, and there’s a growing need to improve access to care,” he says. “Innovation is going to play a major role in addressing that. We’ve only scratched the surface of what AI can do and that’s exciting for us and for the patients we serve.”
As he looks ahead, Dr. Lee continues to carry his family’s values, his cultural identity and inventive spirit with him. “Being first-generation is a big part of who I am. It’s what motivates me to lead, to serve and to keep pushing forward.”
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