Top performers dislike practicing just as much as others do, but they have the will to keep at it anyway. The most important talent may be the talent for practice itself. They believe that skill can be taught, but not tenacity. They believe that people can be taught to be surgeons, but that tenacity cannot be taught. Surgeons, as a group, believe that practice is more important than talent. There is one difference in medicine: it is people you practice upon.

It takes practice to get good at what you do. In surgery, as in anything else, skill and confidence are learned through experience. They must always be world-weary and nonchalant. The surgeon’s job is to cut and operate on patients, and while they may be confident in their skills, they must never be nonchalant about it. It is not just the blood and guts that enthrall you, but the idea that a mere person would have the confidence to wield that scalpel. The first time you are a medical student in the operating room, you either shudder in horror or gape in awe. It takes a lot of supplies to do, and I had forgotten to check my patient’s platelet count. The central line procedure involves inserting a plastic tube into a patient’s vein, and then connecting it to a bag of fluid that helps flush the line. She said there were slight risks, such as bleeding or lung collapse, but that these only occurred in experienced hands. , the chief resident, was about to do my first central line. Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 1 #4 The surgeon’s job is to cut and operate on patients, and while they may be confident in their skills, they must never be nonchalant about it. #3 The first time you are a medical student in the operating room, you either shudder in horror or gape in awe. #2 The central line procedure involves inserting a plastic tube into a patient’s vein, and then connecting it to a bag of fluid that helps flush the line. Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Complications book atul gawande