Grace and Positive Self Talk in Jaw Surgery

<p>In this episode, Dr. Bobek and Dr. Wasson talk about how surgeons evaluate themselves when an outcome is not what they planned. They cover where critical appraisal stops being useful and starts being punishment, why both of them are harder on themselves than on other surgeons, and how surgical training builds the habit in the first place. </p><p><br></p><p>Topics covered in this episode:</p><p>- Whether you are harder on yourself or on the surgeons whose revisions you inherit</p><p>- The duality of doing the work well and accepting that it could be better</p><p>- Why complications are difficult to discuss openly, with colleagues and with patients</p><p>- Evaluating a case where the occlusion, airway, and midlines are all correct but numbness persists on one side</p><p>- Dr. Wasson&#39;s rule: do not beat yourself up unless you can name something to do differently next time</p><p>- MMA at roughly 86 percent surgical success, and what the other 14 percent means for the surgeon</p><p>- The distinction between a failed outcome and a failed surgeon</p><p>- A case that checks every box, full sensory recovery and good occlusion and aesthetics, with an AHI of 7 down from 40</p><p>- How the healthcare system defaults to assigning blame to an individual</p><p>- Going from panoramic films and cephalograms to cone beam imaging, and how more visibility invites more self-criticism</p><p>- How rarely attendings comment on a good outcome, and what that trains into residents</p><p>- Doing the wrong thing and getting the right answer, and the reverse</p><p>- Where the real complications get discussed, and the role shame plays in keeping them quiet</p><p>- The opposite failure mode: rose-colored glasses, and the surgeon who has never had a non-union</p><p>- Wisdom from retired surgeons, including why SARPE asymmetry may not be worth agonizing over</p>