Feelings of a Surgeon

 "A career in surgery is a wonderful thing. Especially when everything is going good. But the sad thing about surgery is that everything will not be going good all the time. It is not like travelling by a plane or by a train where the chances of getting into an accident are near zero. Surgery is at times travelling in a car or a bike in the night when its raining heavily and your head lights have failed. And you land up in trouble. There will also be times when everything seems to be going well in a particular week and suddenly you land up in trouble with one patient , you had least expected to get into trouble. And for those who tackle difficult patients and complex problems, getting into trouble becomes a norm.

One sick patient, especially after an elective surgery under your care and you do not feel good. You do not enjoy your meal with your family and you look pretty upset and your family can easily make out that something is not right. Over the years I had noticed that you get into some sort of depression/low esteem whenever some patient does not do well. This is some sorrow which cannot be shared with anyone and often goes off slowly once either the patient recovers or dies. I wonder what will someone come with if he or she is asked to talk about ' My morbidities and mortalities'. One thing is for sure. Everyone will have some material at hand. Some will have less and some, more. How much do these adverse things affect a surgeon is a thing of intrigue. While some brush them off casually and move forward while many cannot take them easily. Their 'milieu interior' gets disturbed considerably for long periods of time.

Surgeons are not taught how to cope with surgical stress in their curriculum. There should be some method. There should be some counselling for surgeons to heal themselves. Lest their bodies and souls will take a beating. And for all you know some may die younger than they should. Surgery is a risky profession."

As read on FB wall of Dr. Shweta Sharma, Pediatric Surgeon

Here comes the role of your other hobbies, passion, family and friends. For sake of many other patients, surgeons need to come out of stress induced by one sick patient.