A resident’s surgical skill is judged by his technique and his speed. You can’t be sloppy, and you can’t be slow. From your first wound closure onward, spend too much time being precise and the scrub tech will announce, “Looks like we’ve got a plastic surgeon on our hands!” Or: “I get your strategy: by the time you finish sewing the top half of the wound, the bottom will have healed on its own! Half the work—very smart!” A chief resident will advise a junior, “Learn to be fast now. You can learn to be good later.”
