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Category: January 2021

To kick off the new year, we asked our members what it means to be a “great” hand surgeon. From connecting well to patients to showcasing compassion and humility, members describe admirable traits and how they work to achieve them.

Great Journey

By Henry M. Calleja, MD As an aspiring Orthopedic surgeon during the mid-tolate 2000s, I was lucky to have been trained by a lot of big names in orthopedics in our country, at our institution, St. Luke’s Medical Center (Philippines). In 2007, I had my formal hand rotation as a 2nd year orthopedic resident, this […]

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The Best Qualities Are Free

By Amanda Lauren Dempsey, MD I hope to become a great hand surgeon one day. I am almost 6 years in practice now, and it is a daily thought and pursuit. Great hand surgeons come in many colors, ages, shapes and sizes. I have been truly blessed to have worked and trained with many. The most common characteristics […]

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Constant Growth, Mentally and Manually

By E. Gene Deune, MD The residents often asked why I went into Hand Surgery. In medical school, I gravitated towards the technical aspect of surgery of being able to fix things. As a general surgery intern, I could not wait until the end of a case so that I could close the incision, and […]

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Excellent Doctors Make Great Surgeons

By Gregory K. Faucher, MD When I first sat down to write about what it means to be a great hand surgeon, I immediately thought of the “greats.” People like Bunnell, Eaton, Littler, and Carrol laid the foundation for our field. They paved the way, by cobbling together a new discipline of medicine in response to […]

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Being Great Means Something More

By Gregory G. Gallant MD, MBA I would like to thank ASSH Perspectives for allowing me to give my opinion on “what does it mean to be a great hand surgeon?” First of all, I am never comfortable saying that I am great at anything. I think it goes back to when I first drove […]

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From Good to Great

By JJ Keyser, MD, FACS, MBA In a strictly legal sense, to be a surgeon you need only a medical license, a patient, and perhaps a decent light source. To be an intelligent, safe surgeon you need, first, to have entered the field of medicine for all the right reasons and have become a good […]

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Putting Patients First

By Thomas G. Stackhouse, MD My first day of medical school, I was sitting in the rear of the dimly lit amphitheater with my new classmates. This hall harkened back to a time 100 years ago. Imagine the painting “The Gross Clinic” by Eakins. The steep seating allowed for a clear view of the lectern […]

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Trust and Great Responsibility

By Nicolás Rene Thumm, MD It is not easy to summarize in a few words a topic that can primarily be read as self-referential, even self-centered or narcissistic. On the contrary, I feel that it should be approached from a humble perspective, and focused on our patients, environment, and the society where we live. As […]

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Closer to Greatness

By William Van Wyk, MD For me to define what it means to be a great hand surgeon may be a bit presumptive. There are surgeons who are inventors, academics, developers of revolutionary techniques, and those who concentrate on treating patients in their practice. I would say a great hand surgeon is knowledgeable, excellent technically, […]

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On Retirement

By David Wong, MD After 28 years of the private practice of hand surgery I recently decided to retire. I am in great health and nearly all of my peers are still working. I loved operating and being able to positively impact so many lives. I will miss all the great people I was privileged […]

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