Surgical Complications and Self-Doubt: How Surgeons Recalibrate After Hard Cases with Dr. Amy Vertrees | Ep 24
What if the hardest part of being a surgeon isn’t the case in front of you… But the one still living in your head at 2 a.m.?
In this powerful episode of Better Physician Life, board-certified general surgeon, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.), and physician coach Dr. Amy Vertrees gets brutally honest about the part of surgery no one teaches: how to handle complications without destroying yourself.
From deploying to Afghanistan to building her own private practice, Amy has spent years studying failure, shame, and emotional capacity. She shares her 3-step post-complication debrief (What went well, What I wish went differently, Next best step), why surgeons must give themselves informed consent for risk, how to stop arguing with reality, and why remembering your original “why” is the ultimate antidote to burnout.
If you’ve ever lain awake replaying a case, this conversation will give you permission to be human and tools to come back stronger.
About the Show:
Created for physicians who want more than clinical competence, Better Physician Life is a space for honest reflection, reinvention, and reclaiming purpose beyond the pager.
Hosted by Dr. Michael Hersh, each episode dives into the questions we didn’t learn to ask in training, offering tools and conversations to help you live and lead with intention
Top 3 Takeaways:Â
- Reframe Complications as Failure You Can Actually Use: Stop arguing with reality (this shouldn’t have happened). Accept it, then run Amy’s 3-step debrief: 3 things that went well, 3 things I wish went differently, and 1 next best step. This expands emotional capacity instead of contracting it with shame.
- Give Yourself Informed Consent: Before every case, ask: “Do I consent to the risk of bleeding, perforation, or even death?” We make patients consent, why don’t we consent ourselves? Owning the real risks up front reduces denial and post-op self-blame.
- Look at the Gain, Not Just the Gap: Perfection is impossible. Focus on the 97% you nailed instead of beating yourself up over the 3% gap. Pair this with fierce self-compassion (mindfulness, self-talk, and common humanity), and you’ll carry the hard days without letting them crush you.
Watch Now
