Complications in surgery ( and life) are the rule as we get more experienced/mature.
There is a general saying in medicine that one who says he has no complications has not done enough or is not telling the truth. “Complications” a best seller written by Atul Gawande is a masterpiece exhibiting how vulnerable we are as doctors and surgeons in our workplace. After all we are all human beings before becoming doctors.
Recently had a complication from one of my major surgeries and that was an eyeopener for me to improvise the follovawing methodology which has been lingering on in my mind for long. Recently refined it after a I went as a trainer for a recent course in Laparoscopic surgery.
The RADAR principle
R- Recognise the issue/complication
A- Accept you have an issue/complication – ( Don’t play God/hide away)- Sometimes the most difficult
D- Deal with the problem
A- Associate with colleagues in dealing with the issue – More brains is better than one confused brain.
R- Reflect why, what and how you could do better to prevent or deal with the issue better next time.
Added the following to the above recently
P- Prevent if at all possible and
A – Anticipate prior to recognition