FeaturedEthical DilemmasSurgery
Editorial composite
The Longest Hour
The call came in at midnight: pediatric GSW, unstable, en route. When they rolled him into the trauma bay, I recognized his face. He was my son's best friend.
7 min read
Surgery
Life and death in the operating room — stories from surgeons across disciplines
Stories tagged Surgery
FeaturedGlobal MedicineSurgery
Editorial composite
The Earthquake Surgeon
I was trained at Harvard, did my fellowship at Mass General, and specialized in complex vascular reconstruction. None of that prepared me for a field hospital in Port-au-Prince where the only anesthesia was ketamine and the only light was a generator that failed every three hours.
8 min read
Mistakes And LessonsSurgery
Editorial composite
The Weight
I had lost patients before. But never like this. Never a patient who should have lived. Never a complication I should have caught. And never with the knowledge that I would have to face her husband in the waiting room and tell him his wife was dead because of me.
7 min read
Women In MedicineSurgery
Editorial composite
The Female Surgeon's Dilemma
She was told she didn't have the hands for cardiac surgery. She was told her voice was too soft for the OR. She was told patients wouldn't trust a woman to open their chest. She proved them wrong — and then she made sure the next generation wouldn't have to.
8 min read
Divine InterventionSurgery
Editorial composite
The Afghan Girl
She was eight years old, burned over sixty percent of her body, and the triage protocol said she was expectant — not worth the resources it would take to try to save her. The nurse disagreed.
8 min read
Divine InterventionSurgery
Editorial composite
The Prayer That Changed Everything
The vessel was severed beyond repair. I had been operating for six hours. I was about to close and tell the family there was nothing more I could do. Then the bleeding stopped, and it was not because of anything I did.
8 min read
Read the Stories That Changed Everything
Public descriptions say the book draws on more than 200 physician interviews and presents 26 selected accounts.
View the Book on Amazon