Will my Surgeon Be More Likely to Do a Better Job on my Rhinoplasty if I'm His First Surgery of the Day or the Last?

As you can see from the answers, it totally depends on the surgeon. Some surgeons feel they can deliver consistently good results whether first thing in the morning, or last surgery of the day. Others have a strong preference on what time of day they operate. Personally I will only schedule surgery if I feel like I can give it my best, no matter what time it is starting. If I have a difficult or long surgery, I prefer to schedule it first thing in the morning. I prefer to do a combination of complex and simple cases on any given day, rather than multiple long complex cases in one day. It depends on what your surgeon is accustomed to, and what he or she prefers.

 

some doctors like to operate in the morning and see patients in the afternoon.  Others prefer to operate all day.  I find that those that choose the later typically do so because they are so energized from the surgery that they can do several in a day.  If they are as good as you think, then they will not over commit and perform more surgeries than they feel comfortable doing.  

Every surgeon will have his or her own answer to this question, and each of us will likely be different. Some surgeons actually do prefer their longest or more difficult cases to be first or last, since there are mental and physical challenges with each and every operation, no matter how "routine" or "easy." It just depends on how you wish to address them, and whether or not you prefer to be "done" after a hard case, or get the difficulty out of your mind so you can concentrate on the subsequent "easy" work.

In fact, I would suggest that there IS no "easy" case--each patient deserves our utmost attention to detail no matter if it's a mole removal or a lower body lift!

I've been asked this question for as many years as I have been a surgeon (31 since medical school graduation and the start of my surgical residency). And I've truthfully answered that for the first case the patient gets me when I'm "fresh." The last patient of the day gets me when I'm "warmed up." Adrenaline and focus still make me as good on my last case as my first, but I do sometimes arrive  home exhausted. It helps if your surgeon has the capacity to compartmentalize each patient's issues rather than dwell or "stew" on them, because this is one trait that could intrude on another patient's care. I compartmentalize fully between each case, but that's just me.

Ask your surgeon--he or she has been asked this before, and will have an answer ready. Then you can decide where you want to be in the rotation!