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Going green in the operating theatre

Going green in the operating theatre

by Mark Hughes
  Surgery can take a large toll on the environment. It is resource intense in many ways: infrastructure, personnel, and consumables. Operating the...
surgery sustainability
Surgical fulfilment, fatigue, and expectations

Surgical fulfilment, fatigue, and expectations

by Mark Hughes
  Alain de Botton, philosopher and author, suggests: “A firm belief in the necessary misery of life was for centuries one of mankind’s most import...
surgery
Surgeons, empathy, and Shakespeare

Surgeons, empathy, and Shakespeare

by Mark Hughes
- Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel, King Lear Act III scene iii Surgeons, amongst doctors in general, sometimes distance themselves f...
safer surgery surgery
The power of gratitude in surgery

The power of gratitude in surgery

by Mark Hughes
  Being a surgeon can be deeply rewarding. That reward is intimately connected with patient outcome: an operation completed without complication, ...
safer surgery surgery
Surgery, art, and mediated matter

Surgery, art, and mediated matter

by Mark Hughes
As long as there have been surgeons, there has been an interface with art. Da Vinci applied artistic skills to the study of anatomy and dissected n...
art surgery
Covid-19: leadership lessons applicable to surgery

Covid-19: leadership lessons applicable to surgery

by Mark Hughes
  It remains difficult to blog without viewing a subject through the lens of the new COVID-19 world. The crisis has brought out some of the very b...
covid surgery
Surgical consent in the COVID era – navigating greater uncertainty

Surgical consent in the COVID era – navigating greater uncertainty

by Mark Hughes
  The COVID pandemic continues to have a dreadful human impact, both through direct morbidity and mortality but also due to increasing economic st...
covid innovation surgery
Miniaturising surgical robotics – building a model ship inside a very small bottle

Miniaturising surgical robotics – building a model ship inside a very small bottle

by Mark Hughes
One reason that surgery is exciting is its interface with technology. Surgical robots, becoming more common in well-resourced healthcare settings,...
robotics surgery
Patient safety and surgery

Patient safety and surgery

by Mark Hughes
Last week, the WHO marked World Patient Safety Day. At its core, healthcare is singularly motivated by a desire to improve patient health and well...
safer surgery surgery
Looking versus seeing, surgery versus art

Looking versus seeing, surgery versus art

by Mark Hughes
Sculpting, painting, drawing and other artistic endeavours demand finely honed skills of observation combined with the ability to recapitulate (in ...
art barbara hepworth surgery
Is a surgical singularity coming? Will the ever-quickening pace of technological advancement make surgeons better? Or redundant?

Is a surgical singularity coming? Will the ever-quickening pace of technological advancement make surgeons better? Or redundant?

by Mark Hughes
About 5000 years ago, the wheel was conceived and deployed as a new technology. A little more than 500 years ago, the printing press was invented. ...
kurzweil singularity surgery technology
Why we need more casual feminism in surgery

Why we need more casual feminism in surgery

by Mark Hughes
Great surgeons come from all different backgrounds and genders. With still so few women surgeons, the profession is missing out on talent, narrowi...
feminism surgery women