Forty Years Later: Alumna still there for those who need her

Even after a long shift, Leslie Cagle, MD ’83, always showed up. As a surgeon at Vancouver Clinic in the state of Washington during the 1990s, Cagle experienced what she called the most challenging part of her career as a physician: night call.

 “We would have three days in a row where we may have to go in for a night surgery after working all day,” she remembers. “It was hard physically and psychologically— on your relationships and family.”

In a career spanning nearly 40 years, Cagle built a reputation of showing up—for her patients, surgical team, and the young doctors and students following in her footsteps.

A graduate of the Doctor of Medicine degree program and surgical residency program at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Cagle fondly recalls $300 annual tuition, her tight-knit group of friends, and the wonder she felt over the intricacies of the human body.

“To this day, I am still flabbergasted by the complexity of our bodies,” she says. “Right this minute, your kidneys are doing this very complicated filtration, and you don’t even have a clue what’s going on.”

Clinical rotations at busy trauma centers in the Texas Medical Center and in oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center prepared her for the broad range of cases she would encounter as a surgeon. McGovern Medical School legends like Cheves Smythe, MD—the school’s first dean—and Walter Kirkendall, MD, taught enduring lessons about what it means to be a physician.

“I remember Dr. Kirkendall told us that if a patient has diabetes, the treatment is pretty straightforward,” Cagle says. “That’s not exciting. But what’s exciting is getting to know patients, and that never gets old.”

Cagle went on to apply her knowledge at Vancouver Clinic by performing the county’s first gallbladder removal and fecal transplant and serving on the hospital’s quality control panel. All the while, she made sure to take time for her patients and ask about their lives, whether listening to stories about vacations in Greece or learning about life as a professional dog groomer.

She also maintained a passion for supporting the next generation of doctors, taking opportunities to mentor young physicians just as more experienced practitioners helped her during her formative years.

“It’s fun to interact with young people,” Cagle says. “They have a whole other view on life.”

Cagle retired in 2020, but she wasn’t done helping others follow her path in medicine. When a friend nominated her to serve as class agent for the 40-year reunion of McGovern Medical School Class of 1983, Cagle challenged the class to raise $40,000 by the end of July 2023 to support the school’s students and faculty.

“Since most of us who graduated 40 years ago are at the height of our careers or retiring, it seemed like a very achievable goal,” she says.

Looking back on her career, Cagle chooses not to focus on her many achievements, but instead on her commitment to always being there when needed— for her patients, colleagues, and those on the road to a profession that still fascinates her.

“I may not have always been the best,” she says. “But I always showed up.”