S. Rajasekaran's three-year term as AO Spine International Chairperson is drawing to a close this summer. With the benefit of almost three decades’ professional experience in spine surgery, Rajasekaran looks back at his career and shares some meaningful words of advice for surgeons on their journey towards professional excellence. With snakes, ladders, and shortcuts ahead, what to make of it all?
This is an age of competition, be it any field, and the surgeon aspiring to excel and be a leader in his field has to first of all concentrate on acquiring all the knowledge and technical skills that are required for him to be a capable and safe surgeon. There can be no compromise on this. However, success in profession goes beyond technical skills and knowledge. A lot also depends upon non-professional skills like dedication, compassion, ability to perform in a team, and lead a team. So, it is important that young surgeons invest a lot of time and effort in acquiring the best of skills and knowledge before they enter their practice.
Many of above mentioned qualities could never be acquired from books or internet. This is where the importance of mentorship comes in. I would boldly say that the professional character that one assumes later in life is molded entirely in the formative years of your training from your mentor. You may be able to learn about a disease from a book or the steps of the surgical procedure online, but to exercise the correct judgement of when to operate, whom to operate, and even more importantly when not to operate and how to manage the patient with empathy and care can all be learnt only at the bedside and from your mentor.
“If you are lucky to be mentored by the right people, you will be a safe and reliable surgeon to the patient.”
If you talk to the most successful surgeons, be it in any part of the world, you will always find them acknowledging the role of their mentors in shaping their careers because it is only from your mentor that you learn dedication, hard work, punctuality, compassion to patients, how to work as a team, and then to be a team leader.
If you are lucky to be mentored by the right people, you will be a safe and reliable surgeon to the patient.
They say, "an apple never falls far from its tree". This is very true. It is very rare to find mentees of great mentors wanting in the character that is required for a great professional life. When you are with a great mentor, you automatically imbibe their great qualities. You understand the need for hard work and discipline which gives you a steady and everlasting success rather than shortcuts and the run for quick name and fame.
I was lucky to work with great professors like Prof T K Shanmugasundaram. He always advised us never to jump into newer procedures, latest technologies, or instruments. He always emphasized on surgical wisdom and skill saying, “Never rely on and jump for a new technique because it is new. A fool with a new tool is still a fool”. He always advised us that it is not wrong to be a couple of years behind the latest technology until it is time-tested because "Cutting edge surgeons leave a lot of bleeding on the medical system and a huge number of complications". Such advice has gone a long way in adopting the policy of our unit.
“Never rely on and jump for a new technique because it is new. A fool with a new tool is still a fool”.
I was lucky to learn the need to work hard and be patient for success in profession. Impatience for success and adopting short-cuts is a common problem amongst new entries to profession. Narayana Murthy, an IT icon who founded INFOSYS was asked the secret of his overnight success, he replied “Yes, there was 25 years of hard work behind this so-called overnight success”.
The great cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was asked the secret behind his effortless shots and he replied, “Years of continuous hard work and effort”. So, young surgeons should have the success of eminent surgeons as an aim in life but also should look at the years of hard work behind it and be prepared for the "long runway" for professional excellence.
Mentors also shape your character and strengthen your foundation on professional ethics. In these days, when a lot is talked about eroding professional ethics and undesirable financial relationships with industry, mentorship again plays a great role in how you are programmed to work and function through the rest of your professional life.
The training period in a surgeon’s life is indeed very long. The trick to maintain a tempo is to be passionate in your work or doing things which you are passionate about. I would call passion "Vitamin P" that gives you the energy and sustenance for hard work. When you are doing something which you are passionate about, you do not mind the long working hours and the extra bit of effort that is needed to achieve excellence. In fact, passion makes the long pathway to mastery enjoyable.
“A dream is not what you experience in your sleep in the night; it is a passion in your heart that does not allow you to sleep.”
Passion is enhanced by a purpose and profession beyond self. If you are working towards an aim and goal in life and not just for a salary or earning, the purpose gives you passion. Our former president APJ Abdul Kalam was an inspiration to all youth. He said two things which summarizes the whole issue succinctly. Firstly, “small aim is a crime”. Have a big dream which will engage your mind and thoughts fully and positively. But he also said that “a dream is not what you experience in your sleep in the night; it is a passion in your heart that does not allow you to sleep.” So, if you have high aims in life, that will give you the passion and power for hard work.
I agree that the life of a surgeon can sometimes be demanding with long hours and increased stress from managing critically ill patients. Early burn-out is indeed a problem and I think a few things can save you from it.
“Having a research angle built into your practice will enhance your interest in work and prevent boredom.”
Being a part of a wonderful organization like AO Spine is a big bonus in whatever stage of your professional career you are. If you are at the beginning of your career, AO Spine allows you to be associated with the best in the profession worldwide and be inspired by them. AO Spine courses and activities help you to move shoulder to shoulder with giants in the field and this will help you to build your aspirations and dream big.
It helps you in building auxiliary skills of teaching and becoming a mentor to other young surgeons by providing faculty opportunities in regional and international courses, which in turn builds leadership qualities in you and sustains your interest in constant improvement.
“AO helps build life-long friendships for you and your family with surgeons across the world.”
Even for senior surgeons, AO Spine is the great boon because it allows interaction and cross-pollination of ideas with your peers and helps you to learn things that will augment your professional career, also beyond spine surgery.
When you are interacting and working with some of the best spine surgeons in the world, you learn about their working patterns and their time and people management techniques which will help you immensely in your profession. Last but not the least, AO helps build life-long friendships for you and your family with surgeons across the world. This is invaluable.
