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Comment by wayoutthere | Hacker News Reader

> (e.g., the way surgeons often talk to them)

To be fair, surgeons talk to everyone that way. I haven’t met a surgeon who didn’t talk down to other people. My theory is that you have to have a huge fucking ego to cut someone open and believe you’re going to make them better.

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Surgeon here, always try to treat nurses with respect and work with them as a team member to accomplish the best care for the patient. Maybe it’s a midwest thing.

Independent of the medical profession, there is definitely a midwest thing. I have traveled a fair amount, and the culture in the US midwest is infinitely more polite, respectful, and helpful that that of the east or west coasts.

You don’t fully understand Midwest culture then. You never say anything negative to someone’s face. You say it behind their back. Midwesterners are some of the most passive-aggressive people in the country. They’ll help you out of a sense of obligation then resent you for it.

I much prefer the coasts where you know where you stand.

You must be using a definition of Midwest that primarily encompasses states east of the Mississippi where snow plows are rare.

> I haven’t met a surgeon who didn’t talk down to other people.

Then they are a shit surgeon.

You can tell really good surgeons. Their nursing staff are on the ball and completely unafraid to call out a doctor and the surgeon has no problem with this.

I went in for wrist surgery. The anesthesiologist was not the surgeon's normal one. He said something slightly off and all 4 nurses immediately stopped him and made him correct himself and repeat the corrected statement 3 times.

THAT was a good surgeon.

Nurses working 12 hour shifts spend more time around surgeons than most other people do. It takes it's toll.

You can be very good at what you do and confident in it without talking down to others, being arrogant, or treating others poorly. It's a cultural and character thing.

Bullshit. Very few doctors behave this way and it's generally any better tolerated in a healthcare workplace than in any other workplace. This is a media construct designed as a scapegoat for the many failures of the american healthcare system. The greatest trick corporate healthcare systems ever played was convincing everyone that physicians are the villains and not the mega-corp that's bleeding every penny out of healthcare.

He said surgeons, not doctors.

Ego plays a part, but I think med school and residency play a bigger part. Surgery residency is ultra competitive and freaking grueling.

Basically putting 10+ years of your life into being a surgeon ends up playing a big part in your core mindset and approach to life. You don't really end up being a surgeon without being fully committed to it.

Residency... honestly sounds like legalized hazing.

I can't grasp how it's the most efficient/better way to teach someone something. Many doctors tried to explain it to me but so far nobody could.

Good theory, mine was there is such little tolerance for them to be incorrect, so it's "what I said because I said it"

How many surgeons do you know?

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