A recent op-ed in an internet medical journal highlighted what everyone already knows: “practice makes perfect.” The author pointed out that, in a particular Canadian surgery center that only performs hernias, each surgeon does as many hernia procedures in a year as the average surgeon does in his entire career. The result is a much lower rate of complications and need for additional procedures. So, do surgeons need to practice like athletes?

Numerous studies have found that medical centers that perform the largest number of a particular procedure, whether cardiothoracic surgeries or specialized eye surgeries, have the lowest rate of complications or failures.  The difference in outcomes can range from one-half to one-fourth the number of complications. Most doctors will recommend that if you need a specialized procedure, find the medical center that does more of that procedure, even though another facility may have physicians who are also qualified in that specialty. 

Studies have been done of the practice habits of violin students in childhood. The article pointed out that “all had begun playing at 5 years of age with similar practice times. However, at age 8, practice times diverged. Elite performers had practiced more than the less able performers. They averaged more than 10,000 hours of practice.” When you watch Russell Wilson do one of his famous “sky high” throws to a pin-pointed receiver, you assume that during team workouts he practiced those throws repeatedly. And when the relief pitcher comes into the baseball game, he has been repeatedly practicing his pitches in the bullpen before he gets the call.   

Muhammad Ali said once: “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses — behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”  The op-ed author ended his piece with: “Surgeons too need to win the fight in the gym, long before they dance under those operation room lights!”