You scrub in for surgery, your heart pounds, and for a split second, a terrifying thought creeps in—What if I mess this up? What if I don’t see a complication coming? What if the patient has a bad outcome because of me?
You watch your other colleagues and senior surgeons move effortlessly, confident in their technique, while you hesitate.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. This feeling has a name- Imposter Syndrome.
What Is Imposter Syndrome?
In the context of surgical training, imposter syndrome is the persistent belief that you are not skilled or competent enough to be a surgeon, despite evidence of your training, qualifications, and progress.
It’s the internal fear that you’re a “fraud” and that sooner or later, someone—your senior, your patient, or your peers—will expose you as unqualified.
But here’s the truth—you’re not a fraud. Every great surgeon has felt this way at some point. You’re just in the middle of the learning curve. And you can break out of this imposter syndrome faster than you think.
Here’s how:
Step 1: Stop Comparing Yourself to the Wrong People
Most beginner surgeons fall into the trap of comparing their Year 1 to someone else’s Year 10.
You see a senior consultant make phaco look effortless and assume that’s the standard you should already be at.
But what you don’t see are the thousands of cases, failed attempts, and lessons learned the hard way that got them there.
What to do instead:
- Compare yourself to your own past performance. Are you handling the phaco probe better than last month? Are you managing the anterior chamber more confidently? Then you’re progressing.
- Stop expecting a smooth ride—mistakes and awkwardness are normal.
- Talk to surgeons just one or two steps ahead of you. They’ll remind you that even they struggled where you are now.
Step 2: Reframe Every Surgery as a Training Session, Not a Performance
One of the biggest triggers of imposter syndrome is seeing every surgery as a pass or fail test. You tell yourself, If I struggle today, I’m a bad surgeon.
But surgery isn’t a performance—it’s a skill you build. The only way to become a high-speed, independent surgeon is to allow yourself to go through the awkward phase.
What to do instead:
- Detach your self-worth from a single case. You are not your last surgery. One mistake does not erase all your progress.
- Ask: “What did I learn today?” instead of “Did I do well?” If you extracted even one useful lesson from your case, the surgery was a success.
- Expect imperfection. Every expert surgeon you admire has a list of cases they botched as a beginner. The difference? They didn’t let those cases define them.
Step 3: Master Patient Counseling—It’s Half the Battle
The Fear That Paralyzes Beginners
You look at a patient and immediately think of everything that could go wrong. A complication you might not manage. A PC rent you can’t clean up. A case that could suddenly become a nightmare.
This fear makes you hesitant in two critical ways:
1. You struggle to confidently counsel patients because you’re too focused on your own uncertainty. Patients sense this and hesitate to trust you.
2. You start avoiding surgeries you should be doing. Instead of pushing through and learning, you refer out simple cases under the excuse of “difficult cataract” or “medical risk.”
Of course, referring is the right choice for genuinely complex or high-risk cases.
But ask yourself honestly— are you passing on cases just because you don’t trust yourself yet?
Stop Over-Explaining Risks—Patients Need Confidence, Not Fear
Another mistake beginners make? Overloading patients with complication details.
What to do instead:
- Use simple language instead of medical jargon. Most patients don’t understand phaco technicalities, but they understand clarity. Observe how your senior surgeons counsel patients.
- Stop over-explaining to ‘prove’ your knowledge. This actually makes you seem unsure. Keep it direct.
- Stop over-explaining to prove you’re ethical by listing every worst-case scenario. All this does is make patients anxious and hesitant.
- Stop listing every possible complication—stick to what’s necessary.
- Speak slowly, make eye contact, and never rush through explanations. Patients pick up on nervous energy. The calmer and clearer you are, the more trust they place in you—even if you have just started out.
Final Thought: You’re Not a Fake Surgeon—You’re a Surgeon in Progress
If you ever feel like a fake, remember this: Doubt doesn’t mean you’re unqualified—it means you care about doing things right. The worst surgeons aren’t the ones who struggle in the beginning. They’re the ones who stop trying to improve.
So next time you step into the OR, remember—you are not a fraud. You are a surgeon in the making.
Keep going.