How to Take Stress while Doing Surgery

By the end of my medical school, I was set to become a cardiologist. At that time, a prominent cardiology department in Warsaw Medical School even offered me a position. Then I had a conversation about my future with a professor who was the head of general surgery powerhouse, well known not only in Poland, […]
Retirement Is a Perfect Time for More Education

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication Leonardo da Vinci Friday morning vascular department conferences are special for me. For several reasons. Firstly, it’s the time. The conference starts at 7am. I usually get up at 5am, get ready, read emails and news. Car drive is lonely and quiet. No comparison to LA traffic. I make a […]
A Path to Become a Surgeon, cont.

It is sometimes asserted, that a surgical operation is or should be a work of art… fit to rank with those of the painter or a sculptor. .That proposition does not admit to discussion. It is a product of the intellectual innocence which I think we surgeons may fairly claim to possess, and which is […]
A Path to Become a Surgeon

It is necessary that a surgeon should have a temperate and moderate disposition. That he should have well-formed hands, long slender fingers, a strong body, not inclined to tremble and with all his members trained to the capable fulfillment of the wishes of his mind. He should be of deep intelligence and of a simple, […]
The Age of Highest Achievements

It is fair to say, that coming to my age, most of the people look back and contemplate what was the highest achievement of their life, what was they being most proud of. Was it a professional career? Family live? Athletic accomplishments? Maybe a significant discovery? Or social connections? And was it a one-time event […]
So, Is Surgery an Art or a Science?

The practice of medicine is a thinker’s art, the practice of surgery is a plumber’s. Martin H. Fischer, obviously a medical doctor This was a picture I grew up with in my Medical School. I saw medical specialists as a group of intellectuals discussing patient’s problems in the doctor’s lounge, and surgeons talking in the […]