The Making of a Surgeon

How does a doctor recognize the point in time when he is finally a "surgeon"? As my year as chief resident drew to a close I asked myself this question on more than one occasion.
The answer, I concluded, was self-confidence. When you can say to yourself, "There is no surgical patient I cannot treat competently, treat just as well as or better than any other surgeon" - then, and not until then, you are indeed a surgeon. I was nearing that point.
Take, for example, the emergency situations that we encountered almost every night. The first few months of the year I had dreaded the ringing of the telephone. I knew it meant another critical decision to be made. Often, after I had told Walt or Larry what to do in a particular situation, I'd have trouble getting back to sleep. I'd review all the facts of the case and, not infrequently, wonder if I hadn't made a poor decision. More than once at two or three in the morning, after lying awake for an hour, I'd get out of bed, dress and drive to the hospital to see the patient myself. It was the only way I could find the peace of mind I needed to relax.
Now, in the last month of my residency, sleeping was no longer a problem. There were still situations in which I couldn't be certain my decision had been the right one, but I had learned to accept this as a constant problem for a surgeon, one that could never be completely resolved - and I could live with it. So, once I had made a considered decision, I no longer dwelt on it. Reviewing it wasn't going to help and I knew that with my knowledge and experience, any decision I'd made was bound to be a sound one. It was a nice feeling.
In the operating room I was equally confident. I knew I had the knowledge, the skill, the experience to handle any surgical situation I'd ever encounter in practice. There were no more butterflies in my stomach when I opened up an abdomen or a chest. I knew that even if the case was one in which it was impossible to anticipate the problem in advance, I could handle whatever l found. I'd sweated through my share of stab wounds of the belly, of punctured lungs, of compound fractures. I had sweated over them for five years. I didn't need to sweat any more.
Nor was I afraid of making mistakes. I knew that when I was out in practice I would inevitably err at one time or another and operate on someone who didn't need surgery or sit on someone who did. Five years earlier - even one year earlier - I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I had had to take sole responsibility for a mistake in judgment. Now I could. I still dreaded errors - would do my best to avoid them -- but I knew they were part of a surgeon's life. I could accept this fact with calmness because I knew that if I wasn't able to avoid a mistake, chances were that no other surgeon could have, either.
This all sounds conceited and I guess it is - but a surgeon needs conceit. He needs it to encourage him in trying moments when he's bothered by the doubts and uncertainties that are part of the practice of medicine. He has to feel that he's as good as and probably better than any other surgeon in the world. Call it conceit - call it self-confidence; whatever it was, I had it.

NEW WORDS

surgeon
n. doctor who performs operations 外科医生
self-confidence
n. 自信心
making
n. means of gaining success 成功之道
resident
n. 住院医生
conclude
vt. arrive at a belief or opinion by reasoning 得出结论
surgical
a. of, by, or for surgery 外科的；手术的
competently
ad. with the necessary skill 称职地；胜任地
competent
a.
near
vt. approach; come closer to
emergency
n. sudden and dangerous happening needing immediate action 紧急情况；急症
encounter
vt. be faced with (difficulties, danger, etc.); meet unexpectedly 遭到；意外地遇见
dread
vt. fear greatly 畏惧
critical
a. important at a time of danger and difficulty 紧要的；关键性的
particular
a. belonging to some one person, thing, or occasion 特定的
case
n. instance of disease or injury 病例
infrequently
ad. seldom; not often
relax
vi. become less tense 放松
relaxation
n.
residency
n. the last stage of a doctor's training at a hospital 高级专科住院实习（期）
constant
a. happening all the time; unchanging 不断的；始终如一的
resolve
vt. solve 解决
resolution
n.
considered
a. carefully thought out 经过深思熟虑的
dwell
vi. live (in a place) 居住
bound
a. very likely; certain 一定的，必然的
sound
a. correct; based on good judgment 正确的，合理的
confident
a. sure of oneself and one's abilities 自然的
confidence
n.
handle
vt. manage, deal with 处理
butterfly
n. 蝴蝶
abdomen
n. belly 腹（部）
anticipate
vt. see beforehand 预期
anticipation
n.
sweat
n. 汗
vi. 流汗
stab
n. thrust made with a pointed weapon 刺；戳
belly
n. 肚，腹部
puncture
vt. make a small hole in (sth.) with sth. pointed 刺穿
compound
a. having more than one part 复合的
fracture
n. break in a bone 骨折
compound
n. 复合性骨折
inevitably
ad. unavoidably 不可避免地
inevitable
a.
err
vi. make mistakes; do wrong
operate
vi. perform a surgical operation 动手术
surgery
n. 外科；外科手术
sole
a. unshared; one and only 唯一的
responsibility
n. 责任；责任心
avoid
vt. escape; keep or get away from 避免
conceited
a. having too high an opinion of oneself 自负的
conceit
n. too high an opinion of oneself
trying
a. hard to endure or bear; very difficult 难受的；恼人的
bother
vt. annoy, trouble 烦扰，麻烦
uncertainty
n. uncertain condition; doubt

PHRASES & EXPRESSIONS

draw to a close
come to an end 结束
live with
learn to accept (sth. unpleasant); tolerate 学会；适应；容忍
dwell on
think, write, or speak a lot about 老是想着；详述；强调
(be) bound to (do)
(be) certain to (do) 一定..., 必然...
in practice
(医师,律师等) 在开业中;在实践中
butterflies in the stomach
feelings of nervousness 忐忑不安
open up
cut open 切开,给...开刀
in advance
ahead of time 预先,事前
at one time or another
sometime or other 早晚
sit on
delay taking action on; do nothing about 拖延;搁置

PROPER NAMES

Nolen
诺兰(姓氏)
Walt
沃尔特(男子名 Walter 的昵称)
Larry
拉里(男子 Lawrence 的昵称)