Surgery, statistics, subjective interpretations, seniority and staying out of trouble
Statistics, I never understood any of it, but strangely the formidable aura generated by the knowledge and interpretation of the numbers gave an authority to textbooks and anyone who possess knowledge of it (a bit like Frodo in Lord of the rings).
Cardiothoracic surgery must be the single specialty where the use of statistics is most advanced. Just open any page in Kirklin's and you will be accosted by the most impressive series of numbers, equations and diagrams. Have you ever seen a comparable book in any other medical specialty? To be honest, I’ve always thought that you need a Masters in Statistics to fully comprehend it. It’s exactly what I obtained, and today I think it’s truer than ever.
What hope is there for the standard reader to understand the masses of information presented? The disability leads to a major vulnerability - when you cannot interpret the raw data, you become critically reliant other peoples interpretations.
Have you thought about it? It happens all the time! Not just on the podium in plenary sessions of prestigious meetings but anytime anyone tells you anything about cardiothoracic surgery, it will be based on a subjective interpretation of data. Unfortunately, it’ll usually be someone senior to you, and questioning the validity (no matter how nicely) risks a down turn to your career progression.
I always knew there was a good reason to be critically reliant other peoples interpretations.