SICOT e-Newsletter

Human beings were born with different abilities. Not even two are alike as regards mental, physical, social, and psychological capabilities. Some were born to be singers, dancers, writers, actors or doctors, while others were born to be out of any specification. So it is very vital for each one of us to be aware of this critical point.

No doubt one can strengthen some characters by reading, practicing or imitating the champions in a particular specialty, but it is impossible to be like those who carry the personality trait for the said specialty.

To be one among few in any particular field of medicine you have to possess so many personality traits that help in this matter. The serious interest and the inherent capability are at the top of everything.

Personally, I feel it is impossible to be one among few if you don't have the required traits, the serious interest and if you don't work hard to achieve the goal.

Every specialty and subspecialty in medicine requires so many characters; to be a psychiatrist, physician, dermatologist, you have to have so many specifications and personality traits that match each specialty. It is basically your job to choose where to be located depending on your understanding of the requirement for that particular specialty or subspecialty.

One should also keep in mind that there are advantages and disadvantages in every field, but probably the worst motive is financial gain.

If your interest is to sleep well without trouble, then go to the specialty where you will never kill, never cure and never have a call at night. This is the most suitable career that fits your admirations, but remember that this intention will keep you out of the focus media. To live distinguished in a surgical specialty you should have the heart of a lion, the eyes of an eagle and fingers of a lady, but this will keep you not far away from a heart attack.

Probably the most demanding specialty is surgery. You have to have so many personality traits to be a good orthopaedic surgeon and to be a very good orthopaedic surgeon the demand is tripled.

Sadly, so many colleagues squeeze themselves in this honest career without a real estimation of their capabilities and the expected answer is failure for their outcome and a bad reputation for the career.

Orthopaedic surgery is a highly multidisciplinary field, tiring, and increasingly competitive. Both elective and traumatology can take much longer than anticipated which can affect home and family plans.

Orthopaedic surgery requires good manual dexterity, a problem-solving mind-set and a sense of responsibility.

Since there are different ways of treating the same pathology, it is vital to choose which is the best depending on solid experience. Probably the outcome of orthopaedic surgery is more obvious to the patient than any other surgical specialty, so meticulous work is always needed. A mechanical engineering mind is very useful, because so much mechanical work is faced in this speciality.

An orthopaedic surgeon should be confident, practical, focused, capable of solving unexpected problems and able to differentiate between more or less similar conditions. He should be aware of the co-morbidities which are frequently seen in this speciality.

An orthopaedic surgeon should be a devoted believer in the honesty of his career; he should try his best to raise his specialty to the highest level to keep it in the best possible shape. He must always make himself perfect in the specialty or subspecialty which he is practicing. His belief in his specialty should be manifested in his behaviour and attitude at professional as well as personal levels. He should be truthful when he speaks, writes or gives a testimony. He should be humble, modest and free from arrogance and self-glorification.

Due to the prolonged time usually required for healing, he needs to be kind, patient, comforting and friendly. His words should be soothing and his effort towards his patients' complaints should be prompt and caring.

He should provide medical care for the needy regardless of race, ethnicity, colour or religion.

His piety must restrain him from inappropriate physical or emotional feeling during the patient's care. Provisional security is mandatory.

He should work with dignity to avoid emotional involvement with his patient.

So, to be an orthopaedic surgeon, you should have an impressive personality, clean, tidy, meticulous and totally free from bad habits.

Surgery is a science and art that creates a wound to cure another wound, which means we need planning, doing and impacting.

For an orthopaedic surgeon to spare himself from a lot of troubles, he should know how to handle the odd patient, how to deal with colleagues' mistakes and how to keep good relations with his colleagues, the community and the staff.

It is vital to admit failure in order to plan how to avoid it in the future.

To achieve meaningful work, he should be an orthopaedic surgeon for today, tomorrow and even after tomorrow; capable of going hand in hand with the recent advances.

One very common mistake in our locality is the lack of proper written consent which is mandatory in European countries. Written consent protects the orthopaedic surgeon and spares him a lot of troubles. Potential complications must be discussed in advance. Patient screening is very vital; an orthopaedic surgeon needs to do a good screening before agreeing to operate on a patient. He should ask questions that help him to accurately ascertain the emotional state, the organic state and the expectations of his patient.

A high index of screening will certainly reduce or may even abolish the suffering of the orthopaedic surgeon and the patient to a great extent. Ethical aspect should always be considered as a priority. Surgery should only be performed for the patient's benefit and interest and is totally separate from the orthopaedic surgeon's financial or other gains. It is a surgical crime to think that the patient is a vessel of a disease. We have to believe seriously that the patient is a suffering human being and it is our prime job to help him. A successful orthopaedic surgeon is not noted for his skills but for having a caring attitude towards his patients and feeling their pain.

Having a good sense of humor without being crude or rude is also helpful. Honest thinking, honest telling of the lesion and the outcome of surgery is a necessity. The orthopaedic surgeon/patient relationship has a contractual basis and is based on confidentiality, trust and honesty. Both the patient and the orthopaedic surgeon are free to enter or discontinue the relationship. An orthopaedic surgeon has an obligation to render care only for those conditions that he is competent to treat.

It is up to each orthopaedic surgeon to call upon his experience, training, and his theoretical background to make the decision of when to operate and when to refer the patient to other qualified medical professionals.

It is probably a good practice to sit down every night to write and ruminate on the experience of daily work.

Exchanging ideas with colleagues whether seniors or juniors is mandatory, very useful and beneficial to the orthopaedic surgeon and the patient.

Expected and unexpected complications may occur at any time so the orthopaedic surgeon should take this into account, guard against them and be strongly capable to solve them very quickly.

He should be ready and capable to say 'No' for what is unknown to him and it is better to avoid a compromise as a solution.

An orthopaedic surgeon should have the power of quick and perfect decision for the odd and unexpected operative findings. His scope of work should be within his available facilities.

An orthopaedic surgeon is not allowed to make trails or alterations without a scientific basis. It is preferable to submit his suggestion for any alteration to a scientific committee to be based on consensus.

The pressure effect of the beneficiaries should be rejected.

Communication skills are very vital. It should be well known to every orthopaedic surgeon. Working as a team or group will help to give support and confidence and also reduce the chance of making mistakes; it is well known that two brains are much better than one.

One vital message an orthopaedic surgeon should carry is to look after his junior colleagues; it is impossible for them to build experience without his or her assistance. The art and tricks of surgical practice can never be gained by reading, writing or simply observing. They should be amidst the scene and this is not possible without a faithful and caring escort. Another message is identifying the distinguished junior colleague, and then guiding him to improve his capabilities, hoping to raise the flag after his senior. Also, advice should be given from the start to those who are unfit for surgical practice to find another specialty that matches their capability and personality. I think this should be done to reduce harm on the patient and to preserve the good reputation of surgery. Considering the patient and his suffering as a source of financial gain is not only unethical but also a surgical crime, because the patient’s benefits should be the top priority. Commercialization of one's career should be resisted in all directions. Sadly, some medical representatives convey information which is far from real.

The dream of every society is to have a twelve-star orthopaedic surgeon, who has the following specifications:

After reading the words above, it is time for every orthopaedic surgeon to ask himself or herself whether he or she corresponds to the above character. How far is he or she from the ideal? And how many stars does he or she hold? Can he or she work hard to reach the optimum? If not, it is preferable to stay away from surgical practice and seriously look for a substitute, so that no harm will reach our dear patients. By having a high quality orthopaedic surgeon (12 stars), surgical practice will be smooth and quite trouble-free, have a good reputation, and will be a successful specialty.