The Healing Hands: The Vital Role of Surgeons in Healthcare

Introduction:

The Art of Surgery has been one of the finest skills recognised from the time of man. A skill which has always been appreciated and considered as one of the toughest and essential skills since the Age of Sushruta - The Founding Father of surgery.

As times passed and technology has made the art of surgery more interesting, painless, and precise and advanced, The Role of Surgeons in healthcare has, is and will be one of the most vital roles. Doctors are the driving force for any healthcare while the paramedics and nurses play the support.

Today healthcare has become THE MOST important sector especially after the world has witnessed a crisis in healthcare provisions during the pandemic.

In such a situation, any healthcare would be a prime asset to the society, region, state and country as it not only is one of the prime pillars of the society but also important for any neighbourhood to sustain and grow.

While healthcare is a prime pillar in society, A Surgeon is one of the most important parts of healthcare as the patients are not only diagnosed and treated but also studied to gain knowledge of the disease progression and its genetics.

Surgeons Responsibilities as a healthcare professional:

• Surgeons in the healthcare industry are responsible for addressing the majority of emergencies, traumas and disasters along with general Outpatient consultations and Major/Minor Procedures.
• Surgeons take responsibility for a patient from the time of the patient's arrival in the ER/OPD till the Termination of the case.
• The skills of a surgeon are not only limited to the Operation theatre but also include
• History taking in detail
• Examining the patient to look for the signs and symptoms.
• Interacting with patients and explaining to them about the illness and its causes.
• Providing provisional diagnosis.
• Confirming the diagnosis with radiological and laboratory investigations.
• Providing a detailed plan and clear path of management with all possible treatment options and the outcomes to the patient.
• Taking part in panel discussions with other speciality doctors for the best plan of management and outcome.
• Assessment of the Fitness of the Patient for the proposed procedure.
• Performing a procedure/surgery.
• Intra-operative, peri-operative and post-operative management of patients.
• Follow-up of the patient after being discharged from the hospital.
• Termination of the case.
• Surgeons take responsibility for maintaining strict asepsis in the Operating theatre and hospital.
• Surgeons also perform minor daycare procedures where the patient is treated under short-acting anesthesia and is usually sent back home the same day.
• Surgeons also play a key role in decision-making during Infection control panels in healthcare.

Decision making - a key role in healthcare:

Their role in decision-making is the most important, as the decision taken during an emergency or a disaster needs prompt decisions and a clear foresight of the events which follow. A surgeon is a healthcare professional with an abundance of knowledge of both medical and surgical issues which makes a surgeon the best decision maker.

Any hospital with a well-trained surgical team has an immense amount of confidence in handling its patients. Reason being, surgeons play a pivotal role in taking a patient's case history in detail, examining the patient thoroughly, investigating in detail by physical examinations looking for signs and symptoms, providing provisional diagnosis to drive into the direction of a specific illness and confirming the same by radiological and laboratory investigations.

Surgeons also undertake Pre-operative assessment and post-operative surgical care while playing an important role in majority of the Healthcare management.

As Surgeons are well versed in the physiology of the human body and also master surgical techniques, they not only give importance to the accuracy of the treatment but also choose time as an important factor which might change the stage of the diagnosis.

In the hour of need and in situations like Trauma, mass casualties and emergencies, surgeons take the lead in healthcare and ensure that the triage protocol has been followed and plays the most important role in saving many lives.

As the world is evolving with technology, we are now blessed with the latest developments and types of equipment which would make healthcare management reach heights.

In this world of technological expertise, a surgeon would benefit from machines with accuracy and precision in surgeries which were thought to be impossible in the past.

With the support of technology, a surgeon can not only give a wide scope of treatment that might extend up to the final stages but also can give the patient multiple options of treatments to choose from.

As we enhance our knowledge in treating new diseases and yet struggle to cure unresectable tumours from the human body, we humans as a habit of our adaptability will prevail and achieve great heights in finding a solution to every problem and the surgeons are going to be the leaders and also play the most important role in the healthcare industry.