Hello everyone!

It takes years of studying, observing and training before you perform your first (cataract) surgery on a human being. However, even after all that practice, when you sit in for your first case and you feel your pulse racing, and your heart thumping, sometimes the textbook knowledge does not matter as much as your reaction time, risk-taking attitude and overall composure. Yes, getting your first surgery (and then subsequent ones) right, is not always about books, lectures and videos, because there is still a possibility of anything going wrong. Here, what matters in your hands-on exposure, and how much you can follow through in the game with what you started, learned and revised.

I recently came across a saying, now popularised as a technique (in medical colleges), to overcome this stage fright for beginner surgeons, which in fact can be applied to life - The DISH technique, or Do-It-SomeHow.

I am echoing what you are thinking right now too. It does sound counterintuitive or counterproductive to do anything in life, somehow. But in your early career as a surgeon (or in life), it is better to DISH than to not do it at all. Even if the ‘somehow’ is wrong, you still have the scope to learn from it. I have seen young surgeons or training surgeons follow through and complete their steps of surgery by the DISH follow-up once all else has failed. It has given them confidence in managing their complications while safeguarding them against future ones.

How is this helpful in life?

Not all problems have an immediate solution. Some problems have no solution. However, there are a handful, where the perfect solution is not viable, but a make-shift one is.

Similarly, while facing challenges in life, if there is an option, DISH it!

Speaking of cataract surgery, last week I had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Neto Rosatelli, the Brazilian Phaco Wizard, in the flesh! Dr. Neto performs 200 cataract surgeries a day, while still focusing on high-quality Phacoemulsification. This is my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity getting fulfilled.

Until next time,

Anujeet.

📔 Anujeet’s book journey

Currently, I am reading:

Steve Jobs- Walter Isaacson

🧞‍♂️ Aggregate, the weekly quote

“Youth is wasted on the young.”

-Twelve Caesars.

🎻 Harmony, the weekly song

Levitating - Dua Lipa