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The most interesting part of putting this book together has been answering the question “what is the book about?” Telling people that it’s about surgery but it’s not a “scientific” textbook has generally been met with great (and appropriate) curiosity. When I further clarify that it is intended as a survival guide for someone new to the operating room environment, many people confess they wish they had something like this when they started out.
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When Brian Belval from McGraw-Hill first approached me, I was inspired by his goal of demystifying the OR for people who are stepping into it for the first time, or for those who are simply OR-curious. Knowing that Ruth shared my passion for this sort of thing, she was a natural choice for a co-editor and she has exceeded all of my hopes as a collaborator. Even though parts of the book development process have been challenging for us, I am thrilled about what our friends and colleagues have built with us. I offer them a humble thanks for their contributions, and I offer you, our reader, a humble thanks for wanting to read their stories.
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See you in the next case. Don’t forget to go meet the patient in pre-op and introduce yourself as part of the team, okay?
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AC
15 January 2016
Somewhere in the skies over the southeastern US