 My name is Annie Benzie. I'm a general and complex gastrointestinal surgeon at Hackensack Meridian Health Medical Group. So I've always wanted to be a surgeon from a very young age. My background is actually coming from a family of nurses. My specialty or research interests really include foregut surgery, primarily anti-reflex surgery, as well as robotic or minimally invasive surgery and abdominal surgical oncology. Everyone always thinks of having a surgeon as someone that's just gonna make an incision, take out an organ, repair something, and then, you know, see you never. But that's not really the relationship that I started to have with my patients. Whenever I do a surgery, like gallbladder surgery, where someone doesn't necessarily need to follow up with me, what I always tell them is that you're free to live the rest of your life without your gallbladder, but if you ever need me, I'm always here for you. Knowing that they have a backup and a support system is very, very important. I have amazing office staff. They are incredible. They are absolutely the cornerstone of my entire practice and they really help patients navigate through the entire process. Every time I do any form of cancer operation, I always tell patients that you're mine for life or at least for the next five years of surveillance, and then I should be one of the first people that you call if you have a problem of any kind. I feel very responsible for the entire comprehensive care of all of my patients. My goal is to make them feel as if I were caring for them as if they were my own family member.