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Will Power

11/19/2016 Jeffrey Smith, MD, FACS, PCC

How to Increase Your Willpower: Part Three

So far in this three-part series on willpower, we’ve discussed daily practices and tools surgeons can use to strengthen their willpower muscle, so

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Category iconBlog,  Jeff Smith Tag iconincrease your willpower,  willpower

Work Life Balance

11/15/2016 Jeffrey Smith, MD, FACS, PCC

Tips For Not Letting Your Job Overrun Your Family Life

Family is one of (if not the) most important things in life. But many surgeons don’t get to spend quality time with their families because of grueling

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Category iconBlog,  Burnout Prevention,  Jeff Smith Tag iconfamily life,  home life,  work life balance

Will Power

11/10/2016 Jeffrey Smith, MD, FACS, PCC

How to Increase Your Willpower: Part Two

In the first installment of this three-part series, we discussed practices you can incorporate into your daily routine to increase your willpower

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Category iconBlog,  Jeff Smith,  Resilience Tag iconfocus,  increase your willpower,  willpower

Will Power

11/04/2016 Jeffrey Smith, MD, FACS, PCC

How to Increase Your Willpower: Part One

Have you ever wondered why you seem to lack willpower just when you need it the most? For example, why does resisting dessert suddenly become much

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Category iconBlog,  Jeff Smith,  Resilience Tag iconsurgeon burnout,  willpower

Physician Burnout

11/01/2016 Jeffrey Smith, MD, FACS, PCC

4 Tips to Avoid Surgeon Burnout

Surgeon burnout is an epidemic. Many physicians who are experiencing the signs and symptoms of burnout don’t know what to do to deal with the burnout.

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Category iconBlog,  Burnout Prevention,  Jeff Smith Tag icon8 PRACTICEs,  exercise,  surgeon burnout

Burnout

10/25/2016 Jeffrey Smith, MD, FACS, PCC

Top 4 Things that Cause Surgeon Burnout

Surgeon burnout has become a serious problem in recent years, reaching near epidemic levels. Even for doctors who have experienced burnout, it can be

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Category iconBlog,  Jeff Smith Tag iconbureaucratic tasks,  surgeon burnout,  work life balance,  work stress

Social media

10/13/2016 Jeffrey Smith, MD, FACS, PCC

Communication with Mutual Understanding

Now, I’ll be the FIRST to admit that checking into a place of mutual understanding isn’t always easy, as I was immediately offended for my colleague

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Category iconBlog,  Jeff Smith

Social media

10/06/2016 Jeffrey Smith, MD, FACS, PCC

Improving Civility in Our Social Media

Communicating with mutual understanding—It’s not always easy but it IS important.   Unfortunately, many of us have lost sight of that

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Category iconBlog,  Communication,  Jeff Smith Tag iconcommunication,  mutual understanding,  true communication

David G. LaVelle, MD

09/30/2016 Jeffrey Smith, MD, FACS, PCC

If You Give a Surgeon a Cookie

It's Friday and I'm not a surgeon anymore. And I miss it every day and especially on Friday. My life is just the same as everyone's, but it's

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Category iconBlog,  Jeff Smith Tag iconlife after surgery,  successful surgeons,  surgeon burnout

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Forum Description

It's Friday and I'm not a surgeon anymore. And I miss it every day and especially on Friday.

My life is just the same as everyone's, but it's different for me than it used to be. I used to be totally focused on the person I was operating on and trying to help and I was used to having to deal with the unexpected in the operating room. I used to use a children's book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" [by Laura Numeroff] to describe what surgery is like to those learning to be a scrub nurse.

Life after Surgery

Today I had one of those moments that makes me realize how ill prepared I was for life after surgery.

I just got in from walking the dogs. Made a cup of coffee and was going to sit down to read for a while. Jenny was watching Hayes.

I thought, maybe I'll play some music while I read. Maybe the Beatles. It is Friday after all.

Turned on the computer next to me. Realized the operating system needed updating. Started that. Then saw the track pad battery was dead. Took it to the bathroom where I keep coins to open the cap and dropped the little cap to the track pad down the sink.

Cleaned everything out from under the sink. Stuff needed to be thrown away. Refilled the shampoo bottle in the shower. Got an adjustable wrench to open the nuts that hold the sink's trap. Got a towel to catch the water.

Got the cap but saw the trap was nasty so got an old surgical bottle brush to clean it.

Put the trap back on and took the damp towel to the laundry room and saw one of the dogs had pooped in the laundry room. Most likely yesterday. Cleaned that up.

Put batteries in the track pad and thought... If you give a mouse a cookie. Coffee was cold. Time to read has passed. I miss surgery and the people and thinking about hip cup position and leg length and knee range of motion. Life is like surgery, just a whole lot different.


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