Lesson No. 6: Remember your calling
Don't get lost in the business of surgery and lose focus on the true calling of the
career you chose. Focusing on patient care is admittedly difficult when you
have a stake in the complexity of running a facility, but being a successful leader
in a patient-driven field isn't all about paperwork and checklists. It's about the
human effect, about making patients feel like they're the only ones that matter
to the nurses and techs who see hundreds like them each month.
In this era of accountable care, cost containment, satisfaction surveys, out-
come tracking and decreasing lengths of stay, surgical success still boils down
to a very simple concept: patient care. Take good care of patients and every-
thing else will fall into place.
Fore ver changed
There are no minor operations. Each has its own inherent risk and life dynamic.
I have been given the privilege of experiencing firsthand what I ask others to
tolerate on a daily basis. I intend to incorporate those experiences and lessons
into my own interactions with patients and will impart them to each member of
my surgical team so they treat those in their care with compassion and dignity,
and help them recover to a quality life.
On a personal note, my pathology report showed no evidence of cancer. For this, I
am truly grateful.
OSM
1 2 S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E January 2015
Dr. Ross (mysharonaross@gmail.com) is director of
minimally invasive surgery and surgical endoscopy at
Florida Hospital Tampa and program director of the
Advanced Minimally Invasive Foregut and HPB Fellowship
Program at the University of South Florida.
