How to Handle Being Wrong as a Surgeon

Every surgeon is wrong sometimes. A diagnosis missed, a plan that did not work, a judgement that looked sound and proved otherwise — it happens to everyone who does enough surgery, and the people who pretend otherwise are usually the least safe. What separates good surgeons is not that they are never wrong but how they handle it: with honesty rather than concealment, and with learning rather than crippling self-reproach. That, more than infallibility, is what keeps patients safe and careers intact.

Accept that being wrong is part of the work

The fantasy of the surgeon who never errs is both false and dangerous, because it makes mistakes shameful and therefore hidden. Accepting, early and honestly, that you will sometimes be wrong removes the fear that drives concealment. It is not a lowering of standards; it is a realistic foundation for high ones. The aim is not to be perfect but to be honest, vigilant, and quick to correct — which is achievable, and which infallibility, being impossible, is not.

Own it quickly and openly

When you have got something wrong, the instinct to minimise, defend, or quietly hope it goes unnoticed is powerful and corrosive. The opposite — acknowledging it promptly, to the right people, and acting to put it right — is harder in the moment and far better in every other way. Patients, colleagues, and your own conscience all fare better for candour. The cover-up almost always does more damage than the error, and a reputation for honesty survives mistakes that a reputation for evasion does not.

Separate accountability from self-destruction

There is a crucial difference between taking responsibility and tearing yourself apart. The first is necessary and healthy; the second helps no one and, by feeding fear, actually makes future errors more likely. Hold yourself accountable — examine what happened, take ownership, change what needs changing — without spiralling into the belief that one mistake defines you as a surgeon or a person. Conscientious surgeons are especially prone to the spiral; resisting it is part of the skill.

Extract the lesson, then act on it

A mistake handled well becomes a source of improvement. Look honestly at what led to it — knowledge, judgement, system, circumstance — and make the specific change that reduces the chance of it recurring. Vague resolutions to "be more careful" change nothing; a concrete adjustment to how you practise does. The surgeons who improve fastest are often those who have made mistakes and genuinely learned from them, rather than those who have simply been lucky.

Build a culture where being wrong can be discussed

Mistakes are learned from best in environments where they can be discussed openly rather than punished into silence. Contribute to that culture — talk honestly about your own errors, respond to others' with curiosity rather than blame, and make it safe for juniors to admit when something has gone wrong. A team that can discuss its mistakes is a team that catches them earlier and repeats them less.

Being wrong is not the failure; concealing it, or being destroyed by it, is. Accept that error is part of the work, own it quickly, hold yourself accountable without self-destruction, learn the real lesson, and help build a culture where this is possible. Handle being wrong well, and it becomes one of the most powerful engines of becoming a better, safer surgeon.