The road now taken
Posted: January 28, 2011
As an undergraduate with two loves, Keith Kattner, D.O., ’89, had to make a choice – to pursue a career in medicine or art. Much like Robert Frost considering the diverging roads in a yellow wood, Dr. Kattner examined both paths and set upon what he considered the most realistic, or at least the one that would pay the bills – medicine.
Now, at age 49, he’s making a detour. The nationally known neurosurgeon is finally taking the road he passed up as a young man and has his heart and mind fixed on a new goal: conquering the art world.
Without the formal training he had been told in college was necessary for such a career, Dr. Kattner threw caution to the wind, picked up his paintbrush, and retired in December 2010.
“It’s time to move on in a new direction,” says Dr. Kattner, who has trained more than 20 neurosurgeons across the country. “I went as far as I could go in my profession. This provides me with a new avenue to seek adventure.”
Not surprisingly, Dr. Kattner says he doesn’t think like most artists. “I don’t paint to relax. I paint like I operate – very intense and focused.” He also analyzes paintings for technique and has become a student of art history. When he started painting four years ago, late into the night and early morning hours, “I wasn’t very good,” he says. “Now, after 400 paintings, I’m more refined.”
Where this new path leads remains to be seen, but the greatest thrill, he says, lies in the journey rather than the destination.
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How neurosurgery applies to art
1. The more you do, and the harder you work, the better you get.
2. You have to use historical precedence, but it has to be new.
3. Politics are involved in medicine and art alike; you need to be self-promotional if you want the world to hear of you.
Dr. Kattner
• Graduated from Illinois State University in ’85 and KCOM in ’89
• Completed a residency at Carson City Hospital in Carson City, Mich.; a surgery residency at Grandview Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio; and a neurovascular and skull-base surgery fellowship at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburg, Pa.
• Co-founded the Central Illinois Neuroscience Foundation and the neurosurgical residency program at Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, which allows residents to pursue a Ph.D. involving neuroresearch provided by Illinois State University
• Serves on several professional organizations and is past chair of the Neurosurgical Section, American College of Osteopathic Surgeons from 2004-06; he served on its Residency Evaluation and Standards Committee for nine years
• Was selected as the Illinois Osteopathic Medical Society’s Physician of the Year in 2005
• Holds three academic appointments at Illinois State University, the University of Illinois, and Midwestern University
• Is the author of 20 articles and 50 international presentations