Masterful Traits of Exceptional Surgeons :  Insights from a MedTech Insider

During operations, unexpected things are encountered sometimes. It is in making the right call in such situations that master surgeons demonstrate their art. All surgeons should have command of the detailed knowledge of operative surgery, surgical judgment, and decision-making then they can expect to undertake continuing professional development.

A wise OT nurse once said, “Surgeons are like wine who get better with age.”

All the trainees and doctors should adopt certain qualities like:

Critical thinking: Surgery is a high-pressure activity that often requires you to make split-second, life-saving decisions on the operation table. one should be able to think through and alter the course of treatment under stressful situations as and when required.

“A skillfully performed operation is about 75% decision making and 25% dexterity” — Dr. Frank Spencer in 1978 (Pugh et.al).

Professional knowledge: To be an expert in surgical procedures one should know how to handle surgical tools, which method to adopt for the procedure, and predict how the body will react to such processes. An excellent grasp of such concepts could be lifesaving in critical scenarios. It is also important to stay updated on newer techniques and developments in surgery.

Meticulousness: Precision should be the surgeon’s middle name. A surgeon's hand-eye coordination, vision, and visuospatial awareness should be excellent, as this will help perform even the most complex surgical procedures with ease.

Problem-solving skills: Surgeons have to perform prudent medical opinions and make decisions based on them. Some of the patients may need immediate surgical attention to their faces and one has to ensure that they retain their looks despite the surgery scars. In such a situation, the challenge before you would be to act quickly and be decisive. Excellent problem-solving abilities are crucial to provide care beyond straightforward problems.

“Do to others as you would have done to yourself”, by following this rule at all times, in the outpatient clinic, in the operating room, and during postoperative care, all doctors, whatever their specialty, will be on the path to excellence. A surgeon must also be emotionally and psychologically capable of dealing with patients and possible emergencies.

Physical and Mental Fitness: Surgeries go on for hours. On some days they will have multiple surgeries lined up. A surgeon needs excellent physical stamina and immense concentration to get through the day.

Communication Skills: The ability to communicate with patients and their relatives in a quietly confident way, at all times being honest and understanding is part of the hallmark of a master surgeon.

“when there is no place for the scalpel, words are the surgeons’ only tool”

Leadership skills: Surgeons have to lead teams of supporting staff and junior surgeons in an operation theatre. They must ensure that the team properly follows overall subprocesses within the surgery. They have to sometimes lead a large team of multidisciplinary specialists for complicated cases. This requires good leadership and organizational skills.

Speed: speed is no longer a factor. Efficiency is much more important than speed and speed comes along with efficiency.

Personality: sometimes even the best surgeons can have operations go unexpectedly wrong; where bleeding may suddenly be encountered from an aberrant vessel and access may be difficult — suddenly there is the potential for disaster. The calmness of mind and bearing are then required, not raising panic, not blaming assistants, not shouting at the scrub nurses. It is something that a great philosopher, Sir William Oster, called equanimity.

Scientific Literature: The ability to critically appraise and analyze scientific literature is necessary and this ability is furthered by having first-hand experience in research. Outstanding excellence in research is an essential component of surgical excellence: But having high ethical standards is essential.

The methods for mastering surgical skills are changing in today’s competitive environment. Previously there was hardly any formal training in basic surgical skills and most students had their first lessons by observing patients using the formula See one, Do one, Teach one. Simulation-based learning in surgery is a learning model where an environment similar to real real-life surgical situation is created for the trainee to learn various surgical skills, This methodology helps in the repetitive practice of surgical skills on non-living things so that the operator can be near perfect when operating on a live patient.

Cognitive abilities: Surgeons must enjoy learning because keeping abreast of emerging medical Knowledge is a lifelong commitment and one of the most important things that qualify a surgeon. Obtaining the needed surgical education requires mental understanding in certain areas, especially memorization and recall. 

Mechanical skills: Excellent hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity are essential skills needed to be a surgeon. Precision can be a matter of life and death — surgeons often perform tiny and delicate movements under magnification or with eyes on a specialized monitor and thus it is said that to be a successful surgeon we must have the “eyes of a hawk, the heart of a lion and the hands of a lady”

And the last but not least important quality is discipline. with all the above-mentioned principles the surgeon will be more competent enough to handle all complications and “speed, efficiency, automaticity, and precision.”

If you’re an entrepreneur/researcher with ideas in the MedTech space, I would love to get in touch. Reach out to me at prashanth@nuevata.com 😊