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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2009;137:1311-1314
© 2009 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Editorial

The second assistant in cardiac surgery: The challenges and answers

Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC

Received for publication January 3, 2009; accepted for publication March 7, 2009.

^_* Address for reprints: T. K. Susheel Kumar, MD, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Children's National Medical Center, 111, Michigan Ave, NW, Washington DC 20010. (Email: tksusheelkumar@hotmail.com).

The first 300 words of the full text of this article appear below.

We can't all be captains, some have got to be crew, There is something for all of us here. There is big work to do and there is lesser to do, And the task we must do is in there.

—Douglas Malloch

All cardiac surgeons begin their careers as second assistants in the operating room. Superfluous as this statement may appear, there is little mention in the surgical literature of the challenges of being a second assistant. This subject may appear trivial to those no longer in the role, but it is worth remembering that this is not only the earliest stage in a surgeon's career, but also the most impressionable. Surprisingly little has been written about the demands of this role. Much has been written about the qualities a surgeon should possess, but little mention is made of the specific challenges faced in the earliest part of his or her career. In his book De re medicina, one of the first books to be published in the history of medicine, Aurelius Cornelius Celsus, a great authority on the subject, vividly described the qualities a surgeon should possess. He mentioned that a surgeon should have strong and steady hands, a sharp vision, and an undaunted spirit.¹ Thomas Vicary,² a sixteenth century surgeon, described what he considered the four most important qualities of a surgeon: the surgeon should be learned, expert, ingenious, and well mannered. Much later, William Halsted,³ pioneer of modern surgical training, stressed the need for a proper system to produce competent surgeons. His work has been followed by tons of material by different authors, all devoted to the description of the surgeon. However, all these authors allude primarily to the role of the primary surgeon, although there are occasional references to the first assistant. One cannot avoid . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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				T. K. Susheel Kumar The second assistant in cardiac surgery J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg., May 1, 2010; 139(5): 1355 - 1355. [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Zamvar They also serve who only stand and wait J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg., March 1, 2010; 139(3): 798 - 799. [Full Text] [PDF]