Surgeon Skills

[yenuwine]

After reading some articles regarding surgery, I was wondering if becoming a surgeon requires as much talent as it does knowledge, how do you know if you have this talent before actually committing yourself to surgery? A lot is made of a surgeon's hands, but what defines good hands? Is it just a certain level of hand-eye coordination that is required and after that is just extra? Thanks for the responses.

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[Loopo Henle]

After reading some articles regarding surgery, I was wondering if becoming a surgeon requires as much talent as it does knowledge, how do you know if you have this talent before actually committing yourself to surgery? A lot is made of a surgeon's hands, but what defines good hands? Is it just a certain level of hand-eye coordination that is required and after that is just extra? Thanks for the responses.

Surgeons have to have great skills!
Numchuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills.
Residencies only want residents who have great skills!

 

[Bo Hurley]

After reading some articles regarding surgery, I was wondering if becoming a surgeon requires as much talent as it does knowledge, how do you know if you have this talent before actually committing yourself to surgery? A lot is made of a surgeon's hands, but what defines good hands? Is it just a certain level of hand-eye coordination that is required and after that is just extra? Thanks for the responses.

Doesn't matter. Even if you have less than stellar skills, you have to believe that you're the best in the operating room. Even if you don't know as much as the next surgeon, you have to believe you're smarter than any one of them. That's where the arrogance part of surgery comes in...everybody making themselves believe they are "better" than the next surgeon. I have yet to meet a surgeon who will admit another surgeon is "better" than him.

 

[mx_599]

Surgeons have to have great skills!
Numchuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills.
Residencies only want residents who have great skills!

chicks like skills...

 

[Furious_D]

After reading some articles regarding surgery, I was wondering if becoming a surgeon requires as much talent as it does knowledge, how do you know if you have this talent before actually committing yourself to surgery? A lot is made of a surgeon's hands, but what defines good hands? Is it just a certain level of hand-eye coordination that is required and after that is just extra? Thanks for the responses.

You can teach a monkey to tie knots. Good hands? Misnomer..........Anyone can aquire the skills with enough training. The true test of a surgeons' skills lie in diagnosis and learning when to/when not to operate.

Remember this, kid. 😎

 

[mddo2b]

You can teach a monkey to tie knots. Good hands? Misnomer..........Anyone can aquire the skills with enough training. The true test of a surgeons' skills lie in diagnosis and learning when to/when not to operate.

Remember this, kid. 😎

This says it all.....great job

 

[v-tach]

After reading some articles regarding surgery, I was wondering if becoming a surgeon requires as much talent as it does knowledge, how do you know if you have this talent before actually committing yourself to surgery? A lot is made of a surgeon's hands, but what defines good hands? Is it just a certain level of hand-eye coordination that is required and after that is just extra? Thanks for the responses.

As far as hand-eye coordination goes, good depth perception is important in some areas. At my last eye exam, my ophthalmologist told me, upon hearing that I plan to become a physician, not to try going into ophthalmology or neurosurgery because my depth perception is not up to par (I was born with strabismus, and although it was corrected I still don't have normal stereoscopic vision). I'm not sure how much of an issue this is for other areas of surgery though (surgery isn't really the area I'm interested in at this point, so I haven't researched this); maybe someone else can add some insight here.

 

[ERJunkie]

I have heard from other sources that although hand-eye coordination is helpful. Emphasis is put on learning, knowledge, and practice, practice, practice.

A gen surg resident once said: "A surgeon is not always certain, but always decisive."

And chicks do dig skills!

 

[gzagza]

Surgeons have to have great skills!
Numchuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills.
Residencies only want residents who have great skills!

Don't forget baller skillz, mackin' skillz...

 

[johnny_blaze]

have confidence in your own skills and abilities. For example... suturing aint hard, yet i've seen people who have done it over and over again shake like mad b/c their nerves get the best of them. The first time i did it i was fine... actually, i rocked 😀 holla

oh yeah, another important thing that a surgeon (GS, ENT, Neuro, ect) should possess to be a good surgeon is an actual interest in the specialty their doing… I think this might just be somewhat important, I dunno… maybe 🙄

 

[johnny_blaze]

Surgeons have to have great skills!
Numchuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills.
Residencies only want residents who have great skills!

hahah i love it... (In thick Mexican accent) just draw a picture of the hospital you want to go to… and give it to them for like a gift or something

 

[TigerLily46]

I talked to my chief about this one. There's no way to really quantify your innate ability. Maybe you're the time that picks techniques up quickly, or whatever. My chief said that innate ability isn't as important as being bull-headed enough to keep trying until you get it. The tools you come in with will only get you so far.

 

[fourthyear]

Like the old saying - practice makes perfect.

I guess you'll find the type of people who do surgery generally like to learn how to do stuff with their hands, or at least practice learning physical skills in other areas of life - musicians, athletes, people who like to be home mechanics and take apart and fix things at home. It's not that you have to have some inherent talent at any of these things, just an interest in learning how to practice a physical skill till you get better at it.

 

[Ergo]

Fourth year is right.

Also, our program director said to us at the beginning of the first Surg clerkship - "Dont worry about being necessarily good with your hands - we can teach anyone to do this stuff if they are interested enough in learning. So if you enjoy surgery, like the OR, and like the kinds of cases we do then come talk to me..."

 

[JudoKing01]

Doesn't matter. Even if you have less than stellar skills, you have to believe that you're the best in the operating room. Even if you don't know as much as the next surgeon, you have to believe you're smarter than any one of them. That's where the arrogance part of surgery comes in...everybody making themselves believe they are "better" than the next surgeon. I have yet to meet a surgeon who will admit another surgeon is "better" than him.

I work with a few surgeons that frequently say their partners are better than they are. And their partners agree, lol.

 

[FutureOrthoDoc]

You can teach a monkey to tie knots. Good hands? Misnomer..........Anyone can aquire the skills with enough training. The true test of a surgeons' skills lie in diagnosis and learning when to/when not to operate.

Remember this, kid. 😎

I disagree with this. There are plenty of people prone to accidents and misfortune. The world is full of "butterfingers". No matter how much training someone recieves, there is a certain "smoothness" that a born surgeon (like me) must posess. 👍

 

[SocialistMD]

I disagree with this. There are plenty of people prone to accidents and misfortune. The world is full of "butterfingers". No matter how much training someone recieves, there is a certain "smoothness" that a born surgeon (like me) must posess. 👍

Then why waste that "gift" on ortho? 😉

 

[navysurgeon]

i play a lot of xbox, and i honestly think it helps with my laparoscopic skills...i have an xbox in my office at the hospital...Doom 3 is popular in my department right now...

TNS

 

[imtiaz]

i play a lot of xbox, and i honestly think it helps with my laparoscopic skills...i have an xbox in my office at the hospital...Doom 3 is popular in my department right now...

TNS

damn, what program are you at? i want to apply there! haha

 

[Winged Scapula]

damn, what program are you at? i want to apply there! haha

Ahhh...he's living the glorious life as an attending. Who else would have the money and time for such pursuits?!

I can't imagine it will help you too much in PRS except maybe with those endoscopic brow lifts, eh?

 

[TheThroat]

A number of factors come into play when people talk about being a good surgeon.

First, in the OR:

One is knowing the anatomy and being able to tell whats what during a case. If you can't tell whether a mass in the spenoid is a mucocele or a dehiscent carotid artery, don't biopsy to find out. Another is innate ability. I definitely know some surgeons who are better than others in the OR, jsut based on innate ability. Another is sloppiness. Some surgeons are fast and sloppy, some are slow and meticulous, and then there are those that are fast and smooth. Surgeons always want to be fast and smooth, but usually they just end up being fast and sloppy.

This is all separate from being a good surgeon from a decision making standpoint. There are great surgeons who can "get away" with operating too much (in Oto: sinus surgeries), but their skills save them. Knowing when to NOT operate is a great skill, but requires character, fortitude (telling a patient who wants surgery that you won't do it, even though it will make you money), and humility.

I know plenty of surgeons who pay too much attention to the reimbursement of a procedure, rather than the needs of a patient.

 

[navysurgeon]

actually, i'd like to involve some abdominal laparopscy in my plastic practice...for example...would'nt it be cool to harvest a jejunal free flap laparoscopically? wonder if that's been done?

anyway, i think video games are a great way to unwind and i think really help with converting a 2D image into a 3D mindspace...if you know what i mean...

the other thing the xbox is good for in the office is to watch DVDs on..a lot of great laparoscopists offer videos of their procedures, and these are extremely instructive to watch...masters at work!

TNS