Steve Jobs died about 1 year ago. I didn't know him but he clearly loved perfection and precision. On our mission trips, we strive for the same. For me, surgery is an art and I like each creation to be perfect. This takes constant diligence. It is not enough to just do the surgery. For each patient, we do an evaluation before surgery, plan the surgery (sometimes this requires studying surgical texts and articles), coordinate with anesthesia and then get the surgery done. Often, this is just the beginning of the work. Postoperative care can be much more taxing and demanding than the surgery. The pathology specimen must be taken back to the USA and processed. The diagnosis may determine that further treatment is needed so the patient needs to be contacted and chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy arranged. Of course, the patient must have followup care, either by the local physicians or myself during the next visit. The surgery is the glamorous part but the postoperative care is critical. Skipping any of these steps can be disastrous and is unacceptable.
