Whether or not to let residents operate on you. A physician responds:
I was talking to a physician today who needed back surgery a year ago. When he went to the hospital, he demanded that no resident take part in the case because in his words “I didn’t want to wind up paralyzed.” Probably an extreme statement, but you get the point. So for every physician who writes in telling me that we need to keep the system the way it is because residents won’t get trained, I would like to know if you would consent to a resident doing most of your cardiac bypass surgery or most of your brain tumor resection? No? Didn’t think so.
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I won’t let residents monkey with my bod again…I’ve paid my dues, and experience says I should choose differently in the future.
There is a long tradition in this country of surgery (and other) residents learning on Veterans, Medicaid patients, and the uninsured. It may not be fair, but that’s the way it is.