The Intentional Surgeon with Sharon L. Stein, MD
Oct 5, 2026 · 35 min · 10 segments
Surgery is a team sport, yet many departments operate as isolated individuals sharing a call schedule. In this episode of The Intentional Surgeon, Dr. Sharon Stein welcomes…
Faisal AzizGuestSharon L. SteinHostIt's so interesting because as we go through residency, the goal is almost to be replaceable, right? That-
... any one of us as a resident could sub in for anybody else, and it wouldn't really make a difference because we all need to be just replaceable.
And once we become attendings, the key is to really differentiate yourself and figure out what makes you happy and where is an institution or a culture that will align with your values so that you can feel fulfilled in that job.
Because as you know, if you're unhappy, then unfortunately we cannot compartmentalize into our professional life.
It spills over our personal lives as well, and that's when things get complicated.
So I, I feel that, you know, the professional happiness has to be there, and I feel like as surgeons, we have the greatest profession ever.
I feel like the ability for us to make difference in people's lives is amazing.
For humans to let us, you know, make incisions on their bodies and fix something is a huge responsibility.
And as a surgeon, you know there's nothing more satisfying to any of us than doing a, a good operation and seeing a patient recover from that and get benefit from that.
I think that's the biggest feeling we have, and I think that's why I feel that...
But I feel that if we were to focus on the positive things of how much impact we create, can, we can create on people's lives, I think it's a joyful, uh, profession.
It's so interesting because as we go through residency, the goal is almost to be replaceable, right? That-
... any one of us as a resident could sub in for anybody else, and it wouldn't really make a difference because we all need to be just replaceable.
And once we become attendings, the key is to really differentiate yourself and figure out what makes you happy and where is an institution or a culture that will align with your values so that you can feel fulfilled in that job.
Because as you know, if you're unhappy, then unfortunately we cannot compartmentalize into our professional life.
It spills over our personal lives as well, and that's when things get complicated.
So I, I feel that, you know, the professional happiness has to be there, and I feel like as surgeons, we have the greatest profession ever.
I feel like the ability for us to make difference in people's lives is amazing.
For humans to let us, you know, make incisions on their bodies and fix something is a huge responsibility.
And as a surgeon, you know there's nothing more satisfying to any of us than doing a, a good operation and seeing a patient recover from that and get benefit from that.
I think that's the biggest feeling we have, and I think that's why I feel that...
But I feel that if we were to focus on the positive things of how much impact we create, can, we can create on people's lives, I think it's a joyful, uh, profession.
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