Surgical complications happen.
Suffering afterward is optional.
A free training for surgeons on how to manage your mind and emotions when a case doesn't go the way you planned.
Knowing complications are inevitable doesn't make them hurt less.
You knew this was part of the job. You trained for the technical side of it. What no one taught you was what happens after — in the car on the way home, at 2 am, at M&M, walking into the OR the next morning.
The self-doubt. The spiral. The feeling that you should suffer in proportion to what your patient went through. The way shame can settle into your identity and start to quietly shape how you practice.
"The whisper of 'I hurt people' is shame. And it is the most dangerous thing that happens to surgeons after a complication."
Most surgeons never develop the tools to process complications in a way that is healthy, honest, and sustainable. This webinar is about what to do instead.
In one hour, you will walk away with a framework you can use after every complication.
- Why surgeons take complications so personally, and what is actually happening in your nervous system when they do
- The critical difference between shame, guilt, and responsibility, and why only two of those responses are sustainable
- How shame shows up disguised as perfectionism, and why that costs you more than you realize
- A practical framework for moving through a complication without destroying yourself in the process
- How to separate your worth as a human being from your outcomes as a surgeon
If you have ever lain awake after a bad case, this is for you.
You are a surgeon who holds yourself to a high standard, and when something goes wrong, you hold yourself responsible in a way that follows you home.
You have felt the weight of a complication settle into your body and stay there, sometimes for days, and you are not sure what to do with it.
You have wondered whether the way you process the hard cases is sustainable, and whether there is a better way.
Mel is a practicing surgeon and Master Coach who works with surgeons navigating the psychological and emotional demands of a surgical career. Her work sits at the intersection of surgical culture, identity, and the kind of self-awareness that makes for a sustainable practice.
She created the Empowered Surgeons Group because she believes that the surgeon who knows themself is a better surgeon for their patients, and a more whole human being outside the OR.
Join us on June 25th.
This is a free, live webinar. Bring a real case. Come ready to think differently about how you process the hard ones.
Free to attend. Registration required.