Department of Plastic Surgery, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, Korea
© 2022 The Korean Society of Traumatology
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One becomes a true surgeon—who shows his excellence when carrying out the maneuvers necessary to perform an operation that requires precise knowledge of anatomy, dexterity of the hand, finesse with almost every sense, and strength of spirit—only by drawing upon his precious expertise, unifying the skills and knowledge of a physiologist with those of a doctor, to consider the general temperament of the patient, the specific temperament of his or her organs, and the influence of any factor that could be related to the patient’s illness, and to seek out and apply—both before and after the operation—every possible way of achieving a successful outcome. Only then does one deserve the name of a surgeon or an operating physician; such a person unifies two sciences, medicine and surgery, that naturally go hand in hand with each other and weaken and falter as soon as they are separated. If anyone is still a partisan of the viewpoint that these two great branches of healing should be separated, let them look at the responsibilities of a surgeon and judge accordingly. The surgeon’s role encompasses the periods before, during, and after the operation—in the first stage, he must be a physician; in the second stage, a surgeon; and in the third, he becomes a surgeon again. (Translated by Andrew Dombrowski, PhD).
Ethical statements
Not applicable.
Conflicts of interest
Kun Hwang serves on the Editorial Board of Journal of Trauma and Injury, but was not involved in the peer reviewer selection, evaluation, or decision process of this article. The author has no other conflicts of interest to declare.
Funding
This study was supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (No. NRF-2020R1I1A2054761).