One of the attendings, explaining his decision to hire a female partner, remarked, “Women make better surgeons, honestly. They have more natural dexterity.”
All the women in the room waited for the inevitable other half of the comment.
After a pause, he continued, “The only thing is, they can’t concentrate. Guys, when they’re doing something, think only about that one thing. Women, their minds are all over the place. When we operate, we’re not thinking about the laundry that needs to be done, what we’re going to have for dinner, what to do with our hair, and so on.” Laughs all around.
So I’ve been trying to analyze ever since my concentration in the OR – which of course is impossible. My conclusion is, that I do multitask all the time. Dinner figures in, but there’s also which patients need to be checked on before I leave, which labs need to be reordered for the morning, which consultants I need to talk to. On the other hand, I do think that when we get down real surgery – actually cutting and sewing, not just looking at things (and especially me not just retracting and daydreaming) – I don’t think about much else. I do continue to notice what anesthesia is doing, and what the vital signs are, which I guess the men don’t. Most of the attendings don’t know what anesthesia is doing unless the CRNA or I tell them, and they do seem to get upset by any evidence that I’m looking at anything in the room besides the operating field. (I know, you’re not supposed to take your eyes off the instruments, or you could lose the structures.)
Comments or further observations?
September 27, 2008 at 3:27 am
I would consider the ability to multitask while operating an asset, as long as it doesn’t impair your ability to do the task at hand.
September 27, 2008 at 7:58 am
I often loose track of time in the OR. Yes, we often talk about current events, family, etc rather than just the procedure at hand. Just like driving or the recent train wreck where “texting” was a poor use of multitasking, you just have to be aware. I don’t let the next case interfer with the current case.
September 28, 2008 at 12:54 am
I am a surgical assist and when I am assisting, I am intent on the task at hand. If there is a complication, I remain focused. If things are clicking along routinely, I am the first one to notice changes in the monitor or activity above the “blood brain barrier” and ask if everything is O.K. As a female working with majority male surgeons, I believe that it is an asset to notice things outside of the tunnel vision that men often operate in.