By Brittany Behar, MD

I have the distinct pleasure of being the progeny of an orthopaedic-trained hand surgeon. My mother finished her training over 35 years ago. Growing up, whether I was completing an art project, or finishing my homework, I heard time and time again the following refrains: 1. Attention to detail is paramount 2. Hard work is always required and 3. Don’t put off tomorrow what you can finish right now.

I used to think my mother was just “old school,” more intense than other moms or even other physicians and had unreasonable expectations. As you may have guessed, this was sometimes a point of contention between us. But then I went to medical school and realized I wanted be a plastic surgeon. The mentors I met, those who I admired most, exemplified those mantras. During residency and fellowship, all the hand surgeons I trained under, whether plastics or orthopaedics trained, embodied these qualities. Operating with intricate detail to surgical dissection, or developing specific post op therapy protocols which make or break patient outcomes. A willingness to always help out with a difficult patient problem when asked by their peers or by a challenging patient, never complaining and always finding time to get the job done. And all of them juggling multiple clinical, educational and research projects simultaneously at one time, and doing it well.

The strong work ethics of all hand surgeons paired with meticulousness enables them to ask difficult questions and to seek out new solutions. Hand surgeons are willing to collaborate with their peers because it betters patient care. They lack ego which allows them to occasionally admit “I don’t know” and feeds their desire to learn more, to advance the collective knowledge base of hand surgery.

I hate to admit it, but my mother was right (as always…). Just don’t tell her I said so.