A surgeon operates on a patient’s internal tissues and organs to treat diseases or injuries. They often work with a team of other medical professionals, including anesthesiologists and nurses.
After completing a bachelor’s program, aspiring surgeons attend medical school. They get hands-on experience in a variety of specialties through clinical rotations. Surgeons must also undergo a residency, which lasts for at least five years.
Preoperative assessments, also known as medical clearances, are a crucial first step that ensures healthcare practitioners can safely perform surgical procedures for patients. The process involves evaluating a patient’s overall health, taking into account the type and length of surgery they are planning to undergo and any comorbidities that may arise during or after the procedure. The evaluator then makes a determination whether the patient can safely proceed with surgery and outlines any additional tests or measures that need to be taken to minimize risk.
A pre-op assessment includes a full physical examination, blood testing, and a review of the patient’s medical history. Depending on the procedure and patient health, these evaluations may include a cardiac or pulmonary examination. These evaluations assess the heart and lung’s ability to tolerate anesthesia and help physicians identify any potential risks during a surgical operation.
Healthcare professionals can then use this information to create a customized surgical plan for the patient’s individual needs. This approach reduces complications and leads to faster recovery periods for patients.
The evaluator can then recommend a surgeon for the procedure and help the patient schedule their surgical date. In some cases, the evaluator can make this recommendation over the phone or via video call. This improves communication between healthcare professionals and helps minimize last-minute complications that can delay surgery or result in unfavorable outcomes.
During this phase, the evaluator orders any additional or necessary laboratory or imaging studies. This can include blood and urine tests, as well as CT scans and X-rays. The evaluator also assesses the patient’s general health and may advise on a weight loss or fitness program.
The pre-op assessment can be a daunting task for patients, but it is important to prepare properly for surgery. Preparation can help patients overcome stress, anxiety and fear of the unknown. Programs like Ready Set Recover offer guidance and support to help patients optimize their health before surgery. These programs can help address issues such as sleep, stress management and goal setting to help maximize surgical outcomes and recovery. Surgeons can then rely on the data from these assessments and examinations to help them develop the most effective surgical plan possible for each individual patient.
Planning and Performing Surgeries
Surgeons use their medical knowledge and expertise to perform operations that are life-saving or improve a patient’s quality of life. They may work alone or as part of a surgical team and care for patients before, during and after their surgeries.
A surgeon’s duties include consulting with a patient to assess their medical history and diagnose a problem before performing surgery. They also must be physically skilled to handle surgical tools and have a deep understanding of anatomy, physiology and medical techniques. Some surgeons may have a particular area of specialty, such as heart surgery or cancer treatment.
During the preoperative process, a surgeon will analyze the data from their assessments and consult with other health professionals to ensure that they’re using the best practices. They’ll also discuss the risks and benefits of each procedure with their patients and make sure they understand them.
The surgeon will then plan the surgery. For complex procedures, this can involve virtual surgical planning (VSP), which allows them to visualize the operation ahead of time and prepare for any complications that might arise. VSP is often performed in hospitals, where surgeons work with a team of healthcare professionals, including anesthesiologists and nurses.
To conduct a VSP, surgeons will first take visual data, such as 3D images or CT scans. They then divide this data into different segments, separating out the skeletal and muscular components to create an image of the body. This can be done manually or by segmentation software that automatically splits the image into different areas based on Hounsfield units of radiodensity.
VSP has been shown to improve outcomes, including reducing surgical complications. In addition, it can help surgeons develop a more detailed understanding of the patient’s unique anatomy, which could lead to better results. In some cases, VSP can even allow surgeons to simulate corrective surgeries before they take place.
However, it’s important to note that VSP is expensive and time consuming. As a result, some experts don’t think it’s suitable for all medical situations. And while it’s a useful tool, some surgeons have begun to rely on it too heavily, which could affect their ability to plan and execute real-life surgical procedures.
Post-Operative Care
Postoperative care begins when surgery ends, continues during inpatient hospital stays and often extends well after patients are discharged. It includes medication management, wound care, preventing complications and encouraging physical activity and exercise to increase strength, endurance and flexibility. Surgeons also educate patients about the side effects of their procedure and provide reassurance and emotional support.
While surgeons often claim credit for the entire surgical episode, they are rarely solo performers. They rely on multidisciplinary perioperative teams of nurses, anaesthetists, pharmacists and allied health professionals. The size of the team varies, depending on whether surgeons are doing office-based procedures or working in a hospital with sicker patients and more complex procedures.
During the perioperative period, the body attempts to maintain homeostasis in the face of multiple iatrogenically induced alterations. The surgeon’s role is to recognize unfavorable trends, respond promptly and effectively to prevent further compromise and to ultimately restore the patient to their presurgical state.
A key component of postoperative care involves checking the patient’s vital signs regularly to monitor for complications and other adverse reactions. It also includes assessing the patient’s nutritional status, administering medications as needed and providing reassurance to family members.
Post-operative care helps ensure that patients recover as quickly as possible. It also helps them get back to their regular routines as soon as possible. This includes reducing stress, avoiding overexertion and following prescribed recovery plans. The goal is to help the patient return to their normal life activities and improve their quality of life.
One example of post-operative care is preventing deep vein thrombosis (DVT). DVT is when blood clots form in the large veins inside your leg or arm. They can break off and travel to your lungs (pulmonary embolism) or brain, causing a stroke or other serious medical problems. Treatment for DVT usually involves wearing compression stockings or taking blood thinners.
Surgical care is often complex, and it can be difficult to manage your recovery at home. That’s why it’s important to work with a medical professional who can create an effective plan for you and your loved ones.
Teaching
Teaching of surgical skills occurs in a variety of settings, most commonly through the operating room (OR) and during brief, impromptu educational encounters between surgeons and residents. While the OR remains the preferred format, other methods may be more effective and allow for more frequent practice (5). These include simulation-based training, videoconferencing, and flipped classroom concepts that enable learners to learn core principles prior to attending a face-to-face meeting (4).
However, these learning environments are not always ideal for developing critical reflective thinking skills and are limited by time and availability (6). Further research is required to identify the most suitable formats for honing general surgical skills (7).
This study employed an inductive, grounded-theory methodology to analyse the impact of a multidisciplinary teaching programme. Its use of participants, both junior doctors and consultants, allowed for a more holistic understanding of the programme’s impact and benefits as well as barriers. Participants portrayed it as an important component of professional identity formation, encouraging the development of healthy narratives about surgery and facilitating a process of team cohesion.
Furthermore, the programme helped junior doctors to challenge negative stereotypes about surgery, such as a culture of intimidation, that are embedded in the hidden curriculum of the profession. This insidious set of tacit rules is often subconscious and difficult to acknowledge, but critical reflection can reveal them (8).
Finally, the programme also allowed participants to cultivate a sense of agency. The multidisciplinary nature of the sessions provided opportunities for junior doctors to take on leadership roles and to develop their own knowledge, irrespective of grade. Similarly, senior clinicians were able to develop their teaching and mentoring skills, irrespective of grade. These experiences were invaluable to the cultivation of a flattened hierarchy within the learning community, as referred to in our title.
This study’s findings support the theory that a structured learning environment incorporating distributed practice leads to better retention and transfer of surgical skill, compared with massed training. This should be incorporated into surgical education curricula. Additionally, the findings highlight the need for CME courses that incorporate ongoing clinical development of surgical skills to be delivered using a distributed regimen.