#surgeonlife

[fundaedr]

Healing More Than Bones

Every bone I mend, every joint I restore, reminds me that healing is not just physical it’s deeply human. Behind every X-ray is someone’s father, mother, child… someone hoping to walk without pain again. I don’t just fix bones I help people stand tall, move forward, and reclaim a part of their life they thought was lost. And that will always be the most humbling part of my work.

[lifes123]

The hardest part of General Surgery isn't the hours;

The hardest part of General Surgery isn't the hours; it's bridging the gap between theory and the tactile, bloody reality of the OR. That's why I drew the exact operative steps for 60+ procedures. Link below! 👇 https://books.dratef.net/shop/surgery/the-trauma-surgery-code-visual-atlas-for-damage-control-surgery/?v=048685d96262

general surgery, operating room, surgical skills

GeneralSurgery #OperatingRoom #SurgeonLife

[neurocirurgiabr]

View this post on Instagram

Spine • Tumor • Removal: one of the most interesting cases we get to perform as a spine surgeon is removal of a tumor from the spinal cord as seen in this video. #Repost @spinedocny (@get_repost) ・・・ . Here the tumor is intradural meaning it's literally inside the membrane (the dura) that surrounds the spinal cord. Tiny microscopic sutures are used to pull the dura flaps apart while the tumor removal is done. The clear fluid you see is cerebrospinal fluid that our spinal cord is bathed in. The tumor has a vascular supply from the spinal cord that is coagulated and cut here with a bipolar cautery to free the tumor from the spinal cord. . #medicine #modernmedicine #doctor #doctors #spinesurgery #backpain #longisland #spine #tumor #fuckcancer #premed #medicine #surgeon #surgeonlife #medical #spinalfusion #neurosurgery #orthopaedics . #listrong #lovelongisland #exploreliny #longislandlife #longislandny #longislandbusiness #suffolk #suffolkcounty #nassau #nassaucounty

[callingdrholmes]

Minimally invasive mitral valve surgery. Credit: Professor Nelson, Italy. During a minimally invasive procedure, an open sternotomy is not conducted, resulting in a faster recovery time for the patient! #cardiacsurgery #cardiology #surgery #surgeryrotation #surgeonlife #surgeon #medicine #medicalschool #medicalstudent

[callingdrholmes]

Life in the OR. https://callingdrholmes.wordpress.com/2017/07/01/scrubbing-in/

[callingdrholmes]

[drrajbhayani]

Advice for Aspiring Surgeons: What Medical School Won't Teach You

Medical school prepared me for exams better than it prepared me for the actual practice of surgery. The technical material was demanding, but it was rarely the hardest part of becoming a surgeon.

This is my honest advice for aspiring surgeons, built from the gaps I had to fill in on my own the parts of the job no textbook or written exam ever covered.

Over two decades in practice, the lessons that shaped me most weren't about procedure or technique. They were about communication, endurance, and learning to carry failure without letting it define me. This is what I'd want any aspiring surgeon to hear before they start.

The Skills Beyond the Scalpel

Technical skill gets you into the operating room, but it is rarely what determines the kind of surgeon you become. I spent years assuming that mastering procedures was the entire job. It took real experience to understand how much of surgery happens outside the operation itself.

Why Technical Skill Is Only Half the Job

A technically excellent surgeon who cannot communicate clearly with a frightened patient is only doing half the job well. Outcomes depend just as much on trust, clear expectations, and honest conversation as they do on precise hands. I did not fully appreciate this balance until well into my own training.

The Soft Skills No One Grades You On

Reading a room, delivering difficult news, and managing a team under pressure are never tested on a written exam. These skills develop slowly, usually through uncomfortable moments rather than structured lessons. I wish someone had told me early on that these skills mattered just as much as anything covered in a textbook.

Managing Failure as a Surgeon

Every surgeon eventually faces an outcome that did not go the way anyone hoped. Medical school teaches you a great deal about avoiding complications, but very little about how to carry one afterward. Learning to manage failure turned out to be one of the most important skills of my entire career.

My First Real Failure in the Operating Room

I still remember the exact case that first forced me to sit with a genuinely difficult outcome, one that had nothing to do with a mistake on my part and everything to do with the unpredictability of the human body. I had no framework at the time for processing that experience. I simply had to work through it, largely alone.

How I Learned to Separate the Outcome From My Worth

It took years to learn that a difficult outcome does not automatically mean a failure of skill or character. Surgeons who cannot make this distinction tend to burn out or become overly cautious in ways that do not serve their patients either. Learning to hold both accountability and self-compassion at the same time changed how sustainably I could practice.

Why Communication Matters More Than You Think

I underestimated communication for most of my early training, treating it as a soft skill rather than a core part of surgical competence. That was a mistake. Nearly every serious complaint or misunderstanding I have witnessed in medicine traces back to a communication failure rather than a technical one.

Talking to Patients Like People, Not Diagnoses

It is easy, especially early in training, to start thinking of patients primarily as cases rather than people with fears, families, and their own understanding of what is happening to them. The best surgeons I trained under never lost sight of the person on the table. That distinction shows up in small moments, not grand gestures.

Working With a Surgical Team Under Pressure

Surgery is never truly a solo performance, regardless of whose hands are holding the instruments. Clear, calm communication with a surgical team during a stressful moment often matters more than any individual technical decision. I learned this lesson gradually, usually by watching what happened when communication broke down under pressure.

Building Endurance for Surgical Training

Surgical training tests physical and mental endurance in ways that are difficult to fully explain to anyone who has not lived through it. Medical school hints at the workload, but it rarely prepares you for what sustained exhaustion actually feels like over years, not weeks. Building real endurance became its own separate skill I had to learn.

The Physical Toll No One Warns You About

Long hours standing in an operating room, disrupted sleep during training, and the physical demands of surgery itself take a toll that accumulates quietly over time. I did not take this seriously enough in my own early career. Looking back, I wish I had built better physical habits far sooner than I actually did.

Protecting Your Own Health While Caring for Others

It is easy to justify neglecting your own health when patients are depending on you, but that trade-off is not sustainable over a full career. I have watched talented colleagues burn out precisely because they never learned to protect their own wellbeing. Aspiring surgeons benefit enormously from learning this lesson earlier than I did.

Final Advice for Aspiring Surgeons

If I could go back and speak to myself at the start of surgical training, I would focus less on reassurance about the technical material and more on preparing for everything medical school leaves out. Here's the advice I actually wish someone had told me directly:

Competence and confidence grow at different speeds be patient with both

Communication is a core surgical skill, not an optional extra

Protect your health early; it is much harder to rebuild later

A difficult outcome is not the same as a personal failure

Asking for help is a sign of strength in surgery, not weakness

The One Thing I Wish Someone Had Told Me Sooner

If there is one piece of advice I return to more than any other, it is that asking for help is a sign of strength in surgery, not weakness. I spent too many early years believing otherwise. Aspiring surgeons who learn this lesson early will save themselves years of unnecessary struggle.

FAQs for Aspiring Surgeons

1. What's the biggest thing medical school doesn't prepare you for? The interpersonal and emotional side of surgery communication, delivering difficult news, and processing outcomes that don't go as planned. These are rarely taught directly and are usually learned through experience.

2. How do surgeons cope with a bad outcome? By learning to separate the outcome from personal worth or skill. A difficult result isn't automatically a failure of competence surgeons who can't make that distinction are more prone to burnout or overly cautious practice.

3. Is communication really as important as technical skill in surgery? Yes. Most serious complaints or misunderstandings in medicine trace back to communication failures rather than technical ones, making it a core surgical competency rather than a "soft" extra.

4. How physically demanding is surgical training? Very. Long hours, disrupted sleep, and the physical toll of standing through procedures accumulate over years, not weeks which is why building endurance and protecting personal health early matters.

5. Should aspiring surgeons ask for help during training? Yes. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness, and surgeons who learn this early tend to avoid years of unnecessary struggle.

6. What advice would a veteran surgeon give their younger self? To invest in communication skills as seriously as technical ones from the start, and to understand that competence and confidence develop on different timelines — feeling unsure doesn't mean being unprepared.

Conclusion

The technical skills of surgery will come with time and repetition that part of the job is, in many ways, the easiest to prepare for. What's harder to learn, and what medical school rarely teaches directly, is how to communicate with patients and teams under pressure, how to carry a difficult outcome without letting it define you, and how to protect your own health over a decades-long career. For any aspiring surgeon starting this path, that's the advice worth taking as seriously as anything in a textbook.

This reflection comes from a surgeon with more than two decades of practice in ENT and craniofacial surgery, seeing patients across Brooklyn and Rego Park. Written to pass along the lessons medical school left to be learned the hard way, directly to residents and young surgeons in training.

[lifes123]

Navigate Bariatric Complications Safely

Navigate Bariatric Complications Safely 🛑 The modern bariatric surgeon faces unprecedented complexity. When complications arise—such as a staple-line leak or severe reflux—you don't have time to consult a 1,000-page textbook. You need clear, actionable, rapid protocols. Dr. Atef Ahmed's "Bariatric & Metabolic Surgery Code" strips away the fluff and delivers pure surgical logic. Master the Sleeve, RYGB, and SADI-S with this elite visual operative atlas. Grab your copy today (80% OFF with code AR665398!): https://books.dratef.net/shop/bariatric/bariatric-metabolic-surgery-code-operative-atlas/

BariatricSurgery #SurgeonLife #MedicalBooks #GastricBypass #GeneralSurgery #DrAtefAhmed #SurgicalAtlas