Building Resilience in Neurosurgical Residents: A Primer

by Gary R. Simonds, Wayne Sotile

The stresses of modern medicine place neurosurgeons at substantial risk of emotional and psychological distress. They function in a high-end, high stakes, rapidly changing, multi-tasked environment, fraught with inescapably poor outcomes, human tragedies, risk of litigation, unrelenting demands, and so much more. No wonder nearly one in every two neurosurgeons experiences burnout, significant work-home conflict, and other maladaptive sequelae(McAbee et al, 2015; Shanafelt et al., 2012). Neurosurgical residents are particularly vulnerable. Neurosurgical residency is a crucible from which few escape unscathed. The interplay of tremendous daily physical, intellectual, and emotional challenges with a resident's personality type and coping style determines (for better or worse) his or her functionality, fulfillment, and emotional tone; and greatly affects his or her growth and development as a physician and neurosurgeon. Coping patterns learned during residency may impact and permeate a surgeon's entire professional life, their personal life, and their ability to care for desperately ill patients. The purpose of this book is to offer insights and details from our experience, with the hope of encouraging a greater focus on the psychological well being of neurosurgical trainees. We will describe many tactics and strategies that may be employed to enhance the residents' resiliency (with respect to myriad of challenges and stressors of their daily experience). For the non-neurosurgeon, this books offers a rare and fascinating glimpse “behind the curtain” of the psychology behind the development of surgeons willing and able to face and transgress the most complex and unforgiving organ system of the body.

128 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2015

About the author

Gary Simonds practiced the full breadth of neurosurgery for decades in the US Army, Geisinger Clinic, and as the Chief of Neurosurgery at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. He has performed thousands of highly complex procedures on adults and children and cared for tens of thousands of patients. In addition to his expertise in neurosurgery and the neurosciences, he is interest in an array of related subjects including: medical ethics, medical socioeconomics, humanism, doctor patient interactions, patient advocacy, and burnout and psychological distress in healthcare workers. He has co-authored with Clinical Psychologist Wayne Sotile three non-fiction books on burnout and resilience in healthcare workers and has recently written a related award-winning novels, Death's Pale Flag and One Happy Accident. His next novel, Murder On Cherry Street is in its second draft stage. Gary stepped away from clinical neurosurgery in 2020 but still teaches undergraduates and medical students at Virginia Tech. He lives in Black Mountain NC in a log cabin with wife, Cindy, and border collie, Rory, and is excited to connect with his readers and interested parties over a range of subjects.