The welcome mat

Abstract

On my first day out of residency and into plastic surgery practice in a community hospital, I introduced myself to one of the senior plastic surgeons on staff. Without extending his hand or introducing himself, he abruptly said, “ So you're the new plastic surgeon. Cover me tonight. I have tickets to the opera.” My response to his warm welcome was a simple, “No.” He never spoke to me again. So much for professional camaraderie. A few months went by, and I felt fortunate to have an occasional elective case on the operating room schedule. One day in the locker room, I bumped into another of the more senior plastic surgeons. “I see you are going to operate on Ms. Jones,” he said. “I saw her in consultation, but turned her down for surgery. ” I was absolutely wet behind the ears, so you can imagine my trepidation as I picked up the scalpel. My confidence was shattered. Two weeks later, I ran into this same plastic surgeon in the locker room again. “I see you're going to operate on Ms. Smith,” he said. “I saw her in consultation and turned her down for surgery. ” I practice in a small community, and, at the time, I supposed it was perfectly possible that he had in …