A surgeon can stand in the same two square feet of operating room staring at the same six square inches of patient for hours at a time. Our focus can be so intense that the rest of the world melts away. Any surprise that surgeons do not feel like they are part of a team? Here is how many of my colleagues and I think: "These are my hands. I am responsible for what happens at the ends of my instruments. I have special training. I have earned advancement on my own merit, because I am good at what I do. No one else in the room can do this."
