When he's not in the operating room, spine surgeon Richard Schlenk, MD, can be found honing the same precision building guitars, cleveland.com reported April 5.
Dr. Schlenk has been making guitars for the last three years at his woodshop in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He said in the report that the work calls on similar problem-solving skills he uses as a surgeon.
"I don’t build the same guitar every time," Dr. Schlenk said. "None of them have gone exactly right, and I have to use the same kind of creative problem solving that we use in surgery."
Many of his guitars have been given to friends and family with the ask that they "pay it forward." In the last year, his work has raised about $250,000 for charity.
Dr. Schlenk has worked at Cleveland Clinic since 2003. He is director of the neurosurgery residency training program.