08/30/2025
There are generally 3 reasons a surgeon is invited to speak at a conference:
•Their results have consistently excelled and attracted attention from their peers
•They have either refined an established technique or created a new one entirely
•(Least commonly) They got on the speaking circuit because they are friends with the right people or trained at the right institutions even if their experience or results don’t yet justify their distinction as an expert. A check of their experience and results should help you decipher this.
A few more thoughts for prospective patients:
DO see it as a plus in general if your surgeon is a frequent speaker. Especially In this age of social media where anyone can just publicly declare themselves an expert, being an invited speaker is akin to a 3rd party verification of credentials and ability. It is not a surgeon just hopping on their profile to declare their own excellence. To the contrary, being an invited speaker means being recognized by one’s peers as an expert in the field usually by virtue of their results or technique. One might argue there is no greater recognition than that of peers in offering a relatively impartial assessment of a surgeon’s abilities. If your surgeon is being asked to teach other surgeons, you should feel comfortable knowing you are in capable hands.
DO pay attention to what they are speaking about. Are they talking about social media? Building a business? Are they speaking on laboratory-based research? If they’re at a podium talking about how to make a viral TikTok video, this may not carry as much weight for you as a prospective patient.
DO NOT exclude a surgeon from your list just because they have never been at a podium. There are plenty of excellent surgeons I know and respect tremendously who have never spoken at a conference. I have not hesitated to recommend them to prospective patients.
In the final analysis, seeing that your surgeon speaks at conferences is certainly a valuable piece of information. But I will ALWAYS urge patients to look at a surgeon’s RESULTS and EXPERIENCE before all else. Results matter most. Period.
