Cultivating a Thinking Surgeon: New Perspectives on Clinical Teaching, Learning and Assessment

“ T hinking surgeon” is a phrase that invites a smirk. Surgeons like to cultivate their image as doers, not thinkers. In multidisciplinary discussions they generally brood for a long time before saying, “I'm only a simple surgeon but…” No one is fooled by this self deprecation, which is a preamble to the surgeon cutting through the verbiage and getting to the heart of the matter. ![][1] Linda de Cossart, Della Fish tfm Publishing, £35/$65/$C90/€55, pp 296 ISBN 1 903378 26 5www.tfmpublishing.com Rating: ![Graphic][2] ![Graphic][3] ![Graphic][4] ![Graphic][5] Educationists, on the other hand, enjoy a good think, preferably while sitting in a circle. They write ideas on flipcharts and add arrows pointing up and down. … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif [2]: /embed/inline-graphic-1.gif [3]: /embed/inline-graphic-2.gif [4]: /embed/inline-graphic-3.gif [5]: /embed/inline-graphic-4.gif