Dr. Mackay knew he wanted to be a physician when he was young. “I thought it was a good mesh of science, technology and service—which I liked—and one of the best ways to help people.”
He’s lived in Texas all his life. He was born in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, but moved and spent most of his childhood in Round Rock. He stayed in the Austin area and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Texas Austin. He then headed out west to Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine in El Paso to start his medical training.
“In medical school, I knew I wanted to do something surgical,” he explains. “After shadowing physicians in different specialties, I found I really liked the breadth of procedures used in urology. Many urologic procedures offer patients almost instant gratification. As urologists, there is a lot we can do to immediately improve quality of life for a lot of patients.”
He completed his urology residency at Houston Methodist Hospital located in Texas Medical Center. During his residency, he came to appreciate another aspect of urology.
“With urology you can have long relationships with patients,” he notes. “You can follow them for years to make sure they’re doing well. I like forming relationships with my patients and seeing them really improve.”
One of the ways Dr. Mackay bonds with his patients is through open conversation.
“I think one of the most important things I can do is educate my patients,” he says. “A lot of times the things they are going through are actually very common. Just because it’s something that we don’t discuss or talk about openly doesn’t mean that it’s not something that a lot of people are dealing with. Once I’m able to tell patients they are experiencing something many people go through, it makes them more comfortable and willing to share their concerns with me.
“Once we can talk about their urologic issues openly, I can help them understand their disease or whatever problems they’re facing—along with ways to fix them so that we can address the problem as a team.”
Today, Dr. Mackay is able to put his philosophy in practice with the full support of his fellow care providers and staff at Urology Partners of North Texas. With his extensive training in robotic procedures, Dr. Mackay helps men and women enjoy the best possible outcomes during treatments for kidney and prostate cancers, kidney stones, BPH and incontinence.
When he’s not caring for patients, Dr. Mackay and his wife, a pediatric geneticist, are busy spending time outdoors with their two young sons and two dogs.
