I’m Not Doing Enough

“I’m not doing enough.”  Everyone has uttered this phrase to themselves at some point. As a private practice surgeon, I say this to myself daily. In addition to caring for patients, I also manage the business of my practice. This means when I’m not involved in patient care, I’m refining processes in my practice including social media.  In this environment, there is always more work and always another problem to solve.

In medicine its easy to compare yourself to others. This week I performed 12 operations on 12 separate patients and caught myself being my own harshest critic. In the light of the amazing fact that I helped 12 human beings get back to more pain-free and stronger lives, this seemed insane.

Social media makes it easy to compare yourself to others. You see other people performing incredible feats every day like it’s nothing. But it is a trap. It creates a perception where even extreme hard work and skill will never pay off completely. Once you realize that there will never be a way to satisfy this desire that society and social media create in your mind, your appetite for it diminishes. Our desire for accomplishment leads us to incredible feats as human beings, but at what point do we say we are full and focus on what we already have?

That’s why this week I decided to focus on my surgical patients and get back to my roots as a surgeon. Great surgery and great outcomes. What we do is sacred and demands absolute focus. No room for self-doubt or whining about how you think you should have more. The business of patient care and practice management are inseparable and are a manifestation of your personality as a surgeon. Let it be one where you are content and positively caring for others.

As a side note, thank you for reading and following my content. I’m going to be adding blog posts to my Instagram reels so if this is something you enjoy I would love to hear about it. Feel free to contact at collab@katsuramd.com. Any feedback would be appreciated. Please forgive typos or grammar mistakes. These blogs are 100% human produced.