Facing Surgery ’s complicated past

Your surgical team attends weekly teaching in the department ’s main conference room. In it, an oil painting celebrating “the father of abdominal surgery” hangs from floor to ceiling. The painting depicts the moments leading up to the pioneering surgeon’s first successful ovarian cystectomy in 1809, well before the era of modern anesthesia and antisep sis. The surgeon tenderly holds the hand of his patient, a White woman, before several onlookers in her home. From the far corner of the room, a Black female slave looks on as she carries the belongings - hats, gloves and cane - of the gathered audience.
Source: American Journal of Surgery - Category: Surgery Authors: Tags: My Thoughts / My Surgical Pratice Source Type: research