Most surgeons I know are excellent at auditing their clinical work. Mortality reviews. Complication rates. Outcome data. We're trained to look hard at what isn't working and fix it. But almost none of us apply that same rigour to our careers. This week I want to change that. I'm going to walk you through four audits. Each one takes less than ten minutes. Together they will show you something about your career that's genuinely difficult to unsee. Get a piece of paper. Do them as you read....
30 days ago • 3 min read
A few months ago, I was talking to a colleague who looked completely drained. Not burnt out, just… empty. When I asked what was going on, he shrugged and said something that stuck with me: “I don’t know if I’m building a career anymore… or just ticking boxes.” And honestly? I felt that. Because at some point in surgery, many of us stop living our careers and start completing them. The Checklist Life We Don’t Notice Happening We all start with ambition, big dreams, excitement, curiosity. But...
6 months ago • 3 min read
A few years ago, someone asked me a simple question: “Who are you outside of surgery?” And for a moment, I didn’t know what to say. I had answers ready for everything within the profession — training level, specialty, exam history, career direction. But outside of that? Total silence. I realised something I think many surgeons quietly feel: We don’t just do surgery. We become it. It creeps in slowly; through long hours, high stakes, and the constant pressure to perform. Until one day, surgery...
6 months ago • 3 min read
There’s a moment every surgeon recognises, that shift in atmosphere when you step out of theatre and into the wider hospital. Inside, everything hums with purpose. Outside, the rhythm breaks. One minute you're in a space where every action is deliberate… the next, you're navigating a system where simple tasks become unnecessarily complicated. It’s in that contrast, the clarity of the OR versus the clutter of the hospital, that the real problem becomes obvious: We’re trained to thrive in...
6 months ago • 3 min read
A few years ago, I remember finishing a long case late at night. It wasn’t complicated, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t perfect. I replayed every step in my head while driving home. Every suture. Every decision. Every moment I could’ve done something slightly better. It wasn’t guilt — it was that familiar knot in your stomach that comes when your brain whispers: “You should’ve done it differently.” That voice is loud in surgery. It starts in training, grows during your...
7 months ago • 3 min read
When I first stepped into surgical training, I believed one thing with absolute certainty: Talent would always rise. If you were good with your hands, sharp in theatre, and reliable under pressure, then naturally your career would take care of itself. The system would notice. Your skill would do the talking. But it didn’t take long to see cracks in that belief. The pattern I couldn’t ignore On more than one occasion, I watched colleagues — brilliant, talented surgeons — get overlooked. They...
8 months ago • 3 min read
A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a surgical colleague. We got into the usual “what’s next?” conversation; the kind surgeons often fall into. He told me about an upcoming fellowship he was applying for. Not because it was in a subspecialty he truly loved, but because he felt it would “look bad” not to have it. He already had MRCS. FRCS. A diploma. An MSc. But somehow, it still didn’t feel like enough. When I asked him why he needed this fellowship, he paused for a long time. Then he said:...
8 months ago • 2 min read
Let’s talk about something most medical professionals quietly avoid: business. We’re not trained to think about visibility, personal brand, or strategy. We’re trained to think about anatomy, outcomes, and exams. From day one of medical school, the focus is clear: Study Pass Practice Progress And the end goal? Consultant level. That’s the finish line, right? Except… it’s not. Because what nobody really explains is that consultant is just a new starting point — not the end of the journey....
11 months ago • 3 min read
A few months ago, I was asked to give a short talk to a group of surgical trainees. Nothing fancy. Just some practical tips and common pitfalls I’d picked up over the years. I wasn’t expecting much from it. Honestly, it felt too basic to be helpful. But afterwards, one of the trainees came up to me and said, “I’ve never heard someone explain it like that. That one trick for dealing with post-op bleeding? Game-changer.” It stopped me in my tracks. Because what felt completely normal to me —...
about 1 year ago • 4 min read