Through the Eyes of Dr Sherman—That 10 Percent

Abstract

As chief of surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta Roger Sherman trained generations of trauma surgeons, including me. Our relationship had three phases, each with a specific lesson that stayed with me throughout my career: first, the interview for a fellowship; second, my training at Grady, or “Grady 101;” and third, relating to important people outside of surgical practice, which I understood to be “that 10 percent” that really, really disliked me.

I was caught during a time when there was a severe contraction of the number of training programs in surgery. Despite the red flag of having gone to four different residencies, Dr. Sherman still decided to offer me fellowship position. Training at Grady meant seeing more patients with severe trauma and burns than most surgeons see in a lifetime, with an autonomy that was coupled with responsibility and the expectation of accountability. The 10 percent often included non-surgical consultants and administrators that might be adversarial at first but could provide support if they were informed about the impact of their decisions on patients.

Being part of Dr. Sherman’s staff was a privilege. In his words “surgery … is an awesome responsibility afforded to only a few … a high honor surpassed only by being trusted to teach others this demanding and marvelous craft.”