Landon Trost

What inspired you to work in sexual medicine?

Wayne Hellstrom clearly had the biggest impact on my initial decision to go into sexual medicine. He was and is still my mentor. He provided an atmosphere that pushed me to rapidly get caught up in the field of sexual medicine which helped to springboard pretty much everything else that came downstream. He also was very good about helping to introduce me to the SMSNA family and has continued to help with my career in many other ways.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your career?

I would say there are at least three things that have been the most rewarding for me. The first is seeing good patient outcomes. There are few things that are as rewarding as feeling like you are being able to help someone in a distinct way. The second is helping someone along with their career path. Whether it's early mentoring or helping to provide names for job prospects, this has been very rewarding. And the third is doing research and innovation. This has been a late benefit that I've enjoyed in my career and is one of the most fulfilling.

What is something most people don’t know about you? 

This one's a tough one. Maybe that I met my wife doing door-to-door sales after I offered some of the other salesmen a referral bonus if they referred a girl to me that I ended up marrying.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

I think there are several times when I've been given very good and helpful advice. I remember one scenario that has really stuck with me though through the years. I worked with Muammer Kendirci in Wayne Hellstrom's lab. We would work in there pretty much every day between 4-10 hours doing various research projects. Muammer had been keeping tissues frozen to be processed after he left the country and had basically been accumulating all of his work to be published at a later date. However, Hurricane Katrina hit and destroyed all of these tissues, and thus all of the results of his two years’ worth of work. He had sacrificed so much to be there, and this event at the end of his time literally made it all for nothing. When I asked him about this, his response was, "Doesn't matter." You'd have to hear him say it with his Turkish accent to get the full effect, but it had a significant impact on me. I've thought on it many times over the years as it has helped me to keep things in perspective during many of my personal Hurricane Katrinas.

What would your ideal vacation be?

Sitting on a beanbag with a brownie in one hand and a Fresca in the other playing Zelda with my kids.