No Crying in the Operating Room Quotes

“In some cultures, pain is a hardship to be overcome. In others, pain is a natural part of life, something that everyone experiences and that doesn’t need to be feared and defeated. Understanding how different cultures perceive pain helps us better treat our patients.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“We Americans tend to see death as an enemy to fight at all costs. But what exactly are we fighting? The people in developing countries don’t cherish their loved ones any less. They celebrate the person’s death in the same way they celebrated their life.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“There’s gratification in abstaining from the easy choice. Instant gratification can bring more suffering than pleasure. If I do the hard thing, the next time I face a similar situation it’s not that hard anymore.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“I do feel we have a certain obligation to not lie to ourselves and a responsibility to figure out the truth, no matter where that might take us. If we’re content with living in ignorance, we’re doing ourselves a disservice.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“Nevertheless, international missions have an addictive quality. There’s something magical about them. Maybe it’s the dopamine rushes we get from being needed and appreciated. Or the sense of purpose and belonging that we feel. Or the basic honesty of the work itself. We might witness horrific scenes, but on our return we miss the sense of purpose and camaraderie that went with it. For some, returning to mission work is the only way to experience that feeling again.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“I’ve found that the key to good medicine is teamwork. If the team dynamic isn’t good, or if the surgeons and nurses don’t get along, I’m not going to stick around and try to fix the system. I’ve worked in hospitals where I liked most of the people, but the team wasn’t cohesive enough for me to stay.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“People in developing countries seem to be happier with what they have, even when they have very little. Maybe it’s because they haven’t been exposed to the same level of advertising and materialism. Or maybe it’s because they place a higher value on family, friends, and community than on individual possessions. Whatever the reason, it’s something I wish we could learn from them.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“When a rule doesn’t make sense, there’s a good chance that someone is financially benefiting from it staying that way. As Upton Sinclair once wrote, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“It became a discipline for me. There’s gratification in abstaining from the easy choice. Instant gratification can bring more suffering than pleasure. If I do the hard thing, the next time I face a similar situation it’s not that hard anymore.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“Being struck is fleeting, and the sting fades quickly. The greater trauma was from how arbitrary it was. I wasn’t disciplined for behaviors. I was punished because I didn’t think or act in the way my mom preferred, because our values differed. It would have been far easier to accept if I’d been punished for something I did and not for who I was—a child who didn’t meet my mother’s expectations.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“A good surgeon knows how to operate; a better surgeon knows when to operate and when not to.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“Pain is a universal experience. It’s not that patients outside the US feel less pain, but their perceptions of it are different. In some cultures, pain is a hardship to be overcome. In others, pain is a natural part of life, something that everyone experiences and that doesn’t need to be feared and defeated. Understanding how different cultures perceive pain helps us better treat our patients.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War

“A sick person showed up with a problem, we took care of it, and that was that. Medicine as a straightforward human service. The patient was all that mattered.”
― Cecily Wang, No Crying in the Operating Room: My Life as an International Relief Doctor, from Haiti, to South Sudan, to the Syrian Civil War