It is a fact that virtually everyone who cares for patients will evenly make a serious mistake or even commit acts of negligence. Instead, malpractice follows a bell-shaped distribution.

Although we would like to think that malpractice centers statistically on bad doctors, that is just not the case.

Patients want guidance along with a caring hand to tell them what is happening to them. I believe a very good reason is that patients expect someone to be their healer and caregiver, two roles that a computer cannot play. Since this is the case, one must wonder why computers have not taken over diagnosis. This happens because the doctor will incorrectly place more emphasis on different factors based on experience and intuition. It has been shown that given exact information, a computer often gives more accurate diagnosis than an experienced doctor. A Swedish study determined that the individualized and intuitive approach of modern medicine is flawed.For the future good, these novices must compromise (within limits) patient care. Although this is an inevitable result since skills and expertise can only be acquired through practice, residents and interns must prepare themselves for the moral dilemma that surrounds this situation. Despite compromising patient care, attendings will supervise the residents/interns who perform the procedures, while never telling the patient it would be statistically better if the attending did it himself. However, it is imperative that novice doctors get trained or the entire foundation of medicine would crumble. A dark secret among doctors is that learning must be stolen. Patients want both the expertise and progress that are usually given by more experienced doctors.

This observation provides great comfort to aspiring surgeons because it suggests that as long as you work hard and persevere, you can become a great surgeon. Instead, it is their willingness to stick with practicing one difficult thing day and night for years on end that proves to be most important. The author, however, claims that these associations are not the vital aspects of a great surgeon.

When we think of great surgeons, we commonly envision great hands, talent, and intelligence.

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