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Also, the old surgical saying "A chance to cut is a chance to cure"
bodes well for a hands-on approach to managing the economy and
cutting through bureaucracy. (Physicians who double as ASC and
practice owners are particularly concerned with making the numbers
work.)
There may be some rough edges that need sanding down. Even if the
surgeon chooses an anesthesiologist as his vice president, he can't send
the patient off to dreamland this time to mask the pain while he per-
forms his repairs. Diplomacy may be a thorny process, since it's hard to
imagine him compromising on outcomes. He'd better think twice about
which vendors he welcomes into his office, and about how he treats the
students who visit him at work. (Those tell-all books will eventually
emerge.)
If we ruled the world
When it comes right down to it, though, why limit the field of presi-
dential candidates to physicians? In surgery we have enough Type A
personalities to rule the world. And clearly many of them know how
to play the game of politics, for good and for ill. Consider the follow-
ing:
• We make laws (and oversee defense and foreign policy). A committee of
OR nurses drafts the policy that aims to prevent surgeons from
attacking scrub techs with airborne surgical instruments and other
foreign objects.
• We're diplomatic experts. Circulators manage difficult relations with
surgeons, deliver sensitive care to patients and keep all the moving
parts of OR technology on track, all day, every day.
• We delegate resources. Surgical services directors decide which staff
will be stationed in which ORs for which cases. They also appoint
B E H I N D C L O S E D D O O R S
