The Surgeon’s Expertise

Abstract

In this chapter, I outline some perceived parallels between findings on expert performance in surgery and those in other domains. Analyses of superior performance of experts from traditional domains, such as chess, sports, and music, have uncovered evidence for the acquired mediating mechanisms of expertise: very complex skills, highly refined representations, and extreme physiological adaptations to physical domains. I review published evidence to show how the acquisition of superior performance in surgery is closely related to the extent of engagement in practice with feedback during medical training and residency. On a more speculative note, I discuss how continued access to conditions for deliberate practice as well as feedback on daily medical practice might allow doctors, especially specialists, to keep improving their performance after the completion of medical training.