Applying the Growth Mindset in Surgery

By Fara Bellows

In surgery, the only constant is change. With each passing milestone in our careers, we encounter new challenges, new demands, and new surroundings. We also face novelty within clinical medicine: the literature is always growing, new technologies and techniques arise, and practice changes can seemingly come out of nowhere.

Surgeons tend to be perfectionists. We strive to do our best and to deliver exceptional patient care. But we are human, and as humans, we are never perfect at something the first time we do it. So it can be difficult to stray from our comfort zone and incorporate new techniques into our toolbox, perhaps due to fear of failure or fear of the unknown. It can also be painful to experience patient-related complications and struggle with learning curves.

However, we cannot shy away from novel therapies or ideas. We must embrace novelty: a successful career relies on incorporating new surgical skills and techniques into our practices in order to provide high-quality care. But how do we reconcile our desire for growth with the potential for failure?

I recently read a fascinating book called “Mindset” by Carol Dweck, Ph.D. “Mindset” is an easy read that delves into the psychology of utilizing a growth mindset to cultivate success. In the book, Dr. Dweck contrasts the “fixed” mindset, which suggests that intelligence and skills are static and that no progress can be made from one’s current state, against the “growth” mindset, which argues that people have the potential to learn and cultivate new skills. Dr. Dweck uses many real-life examples of some of history’s most talented athletes, businesspeople, and other high-level performers to demonstrate that through hard work and dedication, one can build a skill they feel they are missing.

We can utilize the growth mindset to build our surgical skill sets and fine-tune our surgical practices without feeling like failures. According to Dr. Dweck, “your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others.” She goes on to add that “everyone can change and grow through application and experience.” I think the following quite applies well to surgery: “Even in the growth mindset, failure can be a painful experience. But it doesn’t define you. It’s a problem to be faced, dealt with, and learned from.”

The steps towards adopting the growth mindset include:

– Embracing challenges

– Persisting in the face of setbacks

– Seeing effort as a path to mastery

– Learning from criticism

– Finding lessons and inspiration in the success of others.

We can all benefit from utilizing the growth mindset in our careers. The growth mindset can help to attenuate the guilt we may feel when we have complications and can help us to develop as surgeons. We owe it to our patients to be our best selves, and the growth mindset can help us accomplish that.

Fara Bellows is a general urologist in White Plains, New York. She can be found on TikTok @FaraBellowsMD.