Eleven Years to “Begin to Understand”
From a recent conversation I had with a close friend—an exceptionally accomplished physician in his
From the essay
From a recent conversation I had with a close friend—an exceptionally accomplished physician in his field (it should be obvious which one)—I found myself unexpectedly unsettled by a number. He said: To become a specialist, you need five years of training in general surgery, then three years in orthopedics, then three years in spine surgery—and only then can you begin to understand the problems. Eleven years after medical school. We were speaking specifically about treating scoliosis. He continued, explaining that these eleven years are required not for mastery, but merely to start understanding the problem. Real understanding—let alone innovation—requires deep knowledge of embryology; anatomy, including blood supply, innervation, and lymphatic drainage; pharmacology; and, in this case, the spine itself.
Adapted from PDF pages 1.