19/08/2025
*Credit to Dr Howard Luks off LinkedIn.
I’ve Been a Surgeon for 25 Years—Here’s What I Wish They Told Me in Medical School
Medical school taught me anatomy, physiology, and pathology. It taught me how to memorize, how to endure, and how to work longer hours than most people thought possible.
What it didn’t teach me was how to practice medicine with a full view of the human experience—mine included.
Here’s what I wish I had known from the start:
1. You’re not just treating anatomy—you're treating a person.
The MRI is not the patient. The labs aren’t the story. People bring fears, histories, habits, and hopes into every visit. Learn to listen—not just diagnose.
2. Health is more than disease management.
We were trained to treat disease, not to foster health. But so much of what patients need isn't found in a prescription pad—it’s in their daily habits: how they move, eat, sleep, and connect.
3. You can't outrun burnout with productivity.
Medicine rewards stamina. But 80-hour weeks and constant pressure come at a cost. I learned the hard way that rest, boundaries, and life outside of medicine aren’t indulgences—they’re necessary for longevity in this field.
4. The best medicine is often "time," not a scalpel.
When you’re trained to operate, everything looks like a surgical problem. But many of the best outcomes I’ve seen came from patience, movement, and education—not the OR.
5. The system is broken. You have to decide if you’ll break with it.
You’ll face pressures to treat charts, hit RVUs, and please insurers. But your real job is to be an advocate for your patients—and for your integrity. That may mean saying no to bad incentives.
6. Never stop learning—but know what’s worth learning.
You’ll never be done training. But the most valuable lessons won’t always come from journals—they’ll come from patients, from mistakes, and from stepping back far enough to see the bigger picture.
7. Who you are matters as much as what you know.
Clinical skill matters. But so does humility. So does presence. So does being the kind of doctor your patient wants to talk to—especially when they’re scared, in pain, or overwhelmed.
I’ve spent decades refining surgical technique, but the real mastery came from learning how to be a better human in the room. We need to teach that just as seriously as we teach how to suture.
