Cultivating Courage for a Sustainable Surgical Career

Friday, October 20, 2023

4:30 PM – 5:30 PM PST

Location: 6A

Moderator(s)

Jeffrey M. Smith, MD, PCC (he/him/his)

Orthopaedic Traumatologist
Orthopaedic Trauma & Fracture Specialists M.C.
San Diego, California, United States

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Faculty(s)

Robert Ostrum, MD

Adjunct Professor
University of Nort Carolina - Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
CS

Carla Smith, MD

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
David Elaimy, MA

Seattle, Washington, United States

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Surgeons are already considered courageous for getting into medical school, completing a competitive residency, and working in a demanding career.

Surgeons find themselves in some of the most intense situations that demand the highest performance of themselves and others. Despite our intelligence, training, resilience and best intentions, the outcomes can lead to fear, timidity, conformity, and other responses that can impact growth and peak performance. Therefore, courage needs to be cultivated, maintained and, at times, restored.

Our discussion will cover many areas that require courage to create a sustainable career as a surgeon, including skill building and working beyond our comfort zone to grow, addressing negative feedback external or internal that can create thoughts as an imposter, performance under pressure that is critical to patient outcomes and our health, and addressing challenges from our leaders or to our own leadership. Get to the “finish line of retirement” in good shape, not burned out.

Learning Objectives:

At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

Learn how courage is a skill to be cultivated in the performance of surgery, advancing in one's career, and in sustaining oneself through adversity.
Understand critical components of cultivating, maintaining, and restoring courage throughout one's career.
Assess your current state of managing fear and anxiety to navigate risk for optimal performance and success.