Dr. Kay I. Lie is a pioneer in the use of minimally invasive surgery for gynecology in Canada.

He was among the first in Canada to use a laparoscopic approach (keyhole surgery) to treat women with ectopic pregnancies (1987).  This has now become the standard of care for treatment for this condition.  Not only was he an important part of creating gynecologic surgical history in Canada, he was also instrumental in establishing both the MIS (Minimally Invasive Surgery) and the MIS Urogynecology Program at the University of Toronto over the past 30 years.

It is his vision that enabled our department to achieve success in MIS surgery from the very beginning. Single-handedly, he trained senior gynecologists from our department to perform  laparoscopic ovarian cystectomies and hysterectomies in the early 1990’s.  Our surgical group was the first to complete a laparoscopic Burch procedure in Canada in 1991. Other ‘firsts’ then followed: the laparoscopic colposacropexy and the laparoscopic sling (1992-3). He was instrumental in arranging for the first live surgery course in Canada with esteemed surgeons as Drs. C. Y. Liu, Tom Lyons and David Redwine in 1993. Prior to that, he had organized with Drs. Jerry Shime, Ted Morgan and other colleagues:  didactic courses and lab training sessions for other practicing gynecologists interested in learning more advanced laparoscopic procedures. We spent countless hours editing surgical videos used for teaching residents, fellows, OR nurses and other surgical colleagues. He always encouraged collaboration from other surgical colleagues from General Surgery and Urology to deal with challenging endometriosis cases and promoted combined Journal Clubs where we would discuss the literature and exchange ideas.

It was with his support and enthusiasm that our department has expanded from one MIS surgeon to eight highly subspecialized fellowship trained MIS surgeons: half of whom are predominantly Urogynecologists and the others with expertise in surgical treatment of difficult stage 4 endometriosis, laparoscopic myomectomies as well as difficult hysterectomies.  Until recently, we were the only AAGL accredited Fellowship training site in Canada (accredited in 2002) and we have trained many fellows since 1989.

Although he retired last year, he misses being in the operating room and will occasionally drop by to watch us operate and provide helpful pearls to our staff/ trainees.  Some of us still call him about interesting, challenging cases and ask for his invaluable advice. He is, and has always been, interested in our group’s growth and achievements.

                                                                                                                                                      (author: Dr Rose Kung, 2017)

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