🎯 How to Earn Respect as a Young Surgeonˀ

Let me destroy your delusions right now.

That senior consultant who promised to "mentor" you? He's using you for night coverage.

That hospital administrator who calls you "Morning Doc"? She's calculating how to extract maximum work for minimum pay.

That patient who says "you're like god to us"? He'll file a complaint the moment outcomes don't match his WhatsApp medical knowledge.

You think respect comes with your degree?

You're living in a fantasy.

I spent my first decade as a surgeon desperately trying to earn respect. Staying late to impress seniors. Taking emergency calls nobody wanted. Charging less to seem "humble." Operating for free to build "goodwill."

You know what I earned?

Burnout at 35. Debt at 40. And the spectacular realisation that I'd become a well-trained beggar in scrubs.

Here's what 25 years and countless humiliations taught me about respect in medicine:

The Brutal Truth About Respect

Respect isn't given. It's taken.

Not through arrogance. Not through aggression. But through deliberate, calculated choices that most surgeons are too scared to make.

You want to know why senior surgeons treat you like disposable labour? Because you act like it.

You want to know why patients haggle with your fees? Because you negotiate like you're selling vegetables, not saving lives.

You want to know why colleagues undermine you? Because you broadcast weakness with every desperate attempt to be liked.

Time to wake up.

Rule #1: Don't Chase Anyone More Than Twice