I would like to see the day when somebody would be appointed surgeon somewhere who had no hands, for the operative part is the least part of the work.
Interpretation
The essence of a surgeon's role extends beyond technical skills; it involves understanding, empathy, and decision-making.
Harvey Cushing's quote highlights that the role of a surgeon is not solely defined by their ability to perform surgery with their hands but rather encompasses a broader range of qualities, including critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and the capacity to lead a medical team. This suggests that a physician's effectiveness is determined more by their overall approach to patient care rather than just their technical abilities.
In practice
In a medical conference discussing the qualities of a good surgeon.
In these days when science is clearly in the saddle and when our knowledge of disease is advancing at a breathless pace, we are apt to forget that not all can ride and that he also serves who waits and who applies what the horseman discovers.
A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased organ, more even than the whole man - he must view the man in his world.
The little things, I can obey. But the big things - how we think, what we value - those you must choose yourself. You can't let anyone - or any society - determine those for you.
Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream.
We need material development, but we need to understand that by itself it doesn't bring peace of mind.
One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.
In Asian languages, the word for mind and the word for heart are same. So if you’re not hearing mindfulness in some deep way as heartfulness, you’re not really understanding it. Compassion and kindness towards oneself are intrinsically woven into it. You could think of mindfulness as wise and affectionate attention.
When the sacredness of one's word is matched in the attributes of his character throughout, all that constitutes a man, then we find that there is something in a man's life greater than his occupation or his achievements; grander than acquisition or wealth; higher than genius; more enduring than fame.
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