Dueling Scalpels

Why do surgeons have a reputation for being angry—and when does pressure become harmful? In this episode, Abhishek and Corey unpack the emotional reality of surgery: urgency, perfectionism, flawed systems, and the high-stakes expectations that can push people toward anger. They debate whether intensity can drive better outcomes, why rage is different from productive frustration, and how a surgeon’s behavior can shape the entire room long after a blowup. Along the way: the “squeaky wheel” problem, missing equipment, operating-room flow, military-style standards, and the lasting legacy of one very memorable Foley incident. 

Chapters 

00:00 Opening banter: weddings, Washington, and a five-year-old’s take on history 

02:13 Why surgeons get angry 

07:09 Perfectionism, training, and switching out of operating-room mode 

11:42 Time, flow, and the pressure to stay in control 

14:06 Can anger improve a broken system? 

19:12 The scrub-cap argument and the squeaky-wheel effect 

21:29 Different kinds of surgeon anger: flow, fear, and catharsis 

24:15 Why unanswered questions can trigger a blowup 

31:00 Anger versus rage 

34:44 High standards, competitiveness, and being “the jerk” 

39:37 Rapid fire: yelling, missing equipment, sarcasm, and standards 

45:30 The Foley story—and why anger lingers with a team 

 Connect with the Hosts: 

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn 
• Douglas Corey Campbell - X 

Abhishek and Corey examine what surgical training should demand—and what crosses into needless harm—through burnout data, resident wellbeing, patient ownership, fatigue, and the small forms of support that make hard work sustainable. They unpack a national study on surgical resident burnout, suicidal ideation, and what makes training feel meaningful versus merely miserable. They mix humor with a serious discussion of how surgical education shapes resilience, professional identity, and patient responsibility.

Content note: the conversation includes discussion of resident suicide and suicidal thoughts.

Key topics

• In this episode, Abhishek introduces a national study of 6,567 general surgery residents across 301 programs and highlights the alarming finding that 4% reported suicidal ideation in the prior year.
• Corey and Abhishek discuss how duty hour violations, blame-oriented responses to adverse events, low operative autonomy, bullying, and sexual harassment all contribute to burnout.
• They debate the difference between necessary hardship and gratuitous suffering in residency, especially when training feels disconnected from patient care or growth.
• Corey argues that early residency is disorienting because the system stops being built around the trainee and starts centering the patient, which forces adaptation and resilience.
• Abhishek reflects on how meaningful suffering in training came from taking ownership of a patient, staying when complications happened, and learning that the case was yours.
• They talk about the role of purposeful misery versus hazing, especially when residents spend hours on documentation and other tasks that may build discipline but can also feel demeaning.

Connect with the Hosts:

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn
• Douglas Corey Campbell - X

What can genetic testing actually tell us—and what happens when the science advances faster than our ability to interpret, afford, and govern it? Pediatric neurogeneticist Dr. Amitha Ananth joins Abhishek and Corey for a wide-ranging conversation about the uncertainty behind genetic testing, the promise and ethical complexity of newborn screening, and why a genetic finding is not always a diagnosis. They explore privacy, disability, direct-to-consumer testing, gene therapy, and the difficult question at the center of all of it: just because we can know something, does that mean we know what to do with it? Along the way, Amitha shares how conditions such as Rett syndrome and spinal muscular atrophy are reshaping the future of pediatric care—and why access to treatment matters as much as the technology itself. 

Chapters 

• 00:00 Introducing Dr. Amitha Ananth 

• 04:12 Gattaca, genetics, and the “designer baby” question 

• 06:57 Why genetic testing is full of uncertainty 

• 13:52 Exome vs. genome sequencing 

• 16:51 Can AI solve genetics? 

• 20:31 Rett syndrome and the challenge of prediction 

• 26:17 Newborn screening: promise, limits, and policy 

• 33:18 Autism, disability, and what society calls “normal” 

• 39:31 Direct-to-consumer testing and genetic privacy 

• 45:02 Access, affordability, and the ethics of early diagnosis 

• 47:51 Gene therapy and the changing future of pediatric neurology 

Connect with the Guest: 

• Amitha Ananth – UAB  

Connect with the Hosts: 

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn 

• Douglas Corey Campbell - X 

Abhishek and Corey take on robotic surgery from the surgeon’s side: what the technology actually does, why patients often misunderstand it, and where it delivers the most value. They trace its unusual origins, question “center of excellence” marketing, and debate whether better ergonomics and precision justify the cost. Finally, they look ahead to imaging-guided surgery, autonomous robots, and whether a household robot is comforting—or terrifying.

Chapters

• 00:05 — Cold open: EV guilt and plastic bags
• 03:48 — Why talk about robotic surgery?
• 04:34 — Are “centers of excellence” meaningful?
• 05:39 — What robotic surgery actually is
• 06:12 — The history of surgical robotics
• 09:02 — Adoption across surgical specialties
• 10:44 — The real value question: usefulness versus cost
• 13:38 — Choosing the right tool for the job
• 15:47 — What does “game changer” actually mean?
• 18:04 — Why hernia repair may be robotics’ best fit
• 21:01 — Should any robotic procedures be off-limits?
• 22:12 — Robotics and surgical education
• 26:16 — The economics of buying and upgrading robots
• 27:54 — The next frontier: information, not just dexterity
• 30:01 — Rapid fire: AI, autonomous surgery, and the future
• 33:25 — If you needed a hernia repair, would you choose robotic?
• 34:28 — Would you trust a robot at home?

Key takeaway

·         Robotic surgery is neither a cure-all nor a gimmick. It can make certain operations more manageable and expand what surgeons can do comfortably, but its value still depends on cost, training, access, and whether the technology improves decisions—not just mechanics.

Connect with the Hosts:

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn
• Douglas Corey Campbell - X

Dr. Abhishek Parmar and Dr. Corey Campbell dig into one of the most misunderstood parts of hernia surgery: mesh. They break down what a hernia actually is, why mesh is usually used, why complications often get blamed on the wrong thing, and how minimally invasive technique changes the risk profile. They also branch into sports hernias, biologic mesh, mesh allergy, and the broader problem of medical myths sticking harder than the facts. Mesh is not as bad as mosquitos. 

Key topics 

• In this episode, Dr. Parmar explains hernias as holes in the abdominal wall and why the tissue is never as strong as it was before the defect formed. 

• Mesh is described as an intentional foreign body that triggers scar tissue, which is the mechanism that helps close and reinforce the defect. 

• The hosts argue that most mesh-related problems are more often tied to technique and patient optimization than to the mesh itself. 

• Dr. Parmar makes the case that chronic pain is a major issue in groin hernia repair, and that suturing can increase nerve injury risk. 

• They compare tissue repair versus minimally invasive mesh repair and discuss why MIS can reduce nerve exposure. 

• The conversation pushes back on the public fear of mesh, noting that bad outcomes are memorable while successful repairs are forgotten. 

• Sports hernia is discussed as a misnomer, often better understood as athletic pubalgia or groin pain in athletes without a true fascial defect. 

• The episode closes by debating biologic vs. bioabsorbable vs. synthetic meshes, highlighting how mesh design has improved over time, especially with macroporous and coated materials, while emphasizing that placement and technique still matter most. 

Timestamps 

00:00 - Opening banter and guest-style disclaimer jokes 
01:50 - Who the hosts would invite as a dream medical guest 
03:41 - Why expertise should stay in its lane 
06:49 - Today’s topic: hernias and mesh 
10:37 - What a hernia is and why mesh is used 
11:24 - Why the body reacts to mesh on purpose 
12:19 - Why patients compare hernia repair to patching clothing 
13:44 - Why groin hernia pain is often the real issue 
15:44 - Why chronic pain is usually about nerves and technique 
17:52 - The problem with vilifying mesh as the default villain 
20:21 - Why mesh got a bad reputation over time 
22:55 - Negativity bias and why bad outcomes dominate memory 
25:06 - Sports hernia: what it is and what it is not 
27:14 - Athletic pubalgia, imaging, and physical therapy first 
28:41 - Why some surgeons consider adductor release 
31:31 - The sham surgery study and why outcomes can be deceptive 
33:32 - What happens if mesh disappeared tomorrow 
34:15 - How hernia culture would change without mesh options 
39:53 - Rapid-fire opinions on synthetic vs biologic mesh 
45:28 - The most important mesh innovation in the last 20 years 
46:34 - Coated mesh and why placement matters 
48:13 - Robots, mesh placement, and future hernia repair topics 
49:25 - Irish goodbye and the end of the episode 

Connect with the Hosts: 

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn 

• Douglas Corey Campbell - X 

In this episode, Abhishek and Corey welcome their longtime friend and former medical school classmate, Dr. Lindsay Frederick, an OB-GYN whose career has taken her from private practice in rural Alabama back into academic medicine.  The conversation quickly turns into a funny, personal, and career-focused chat about how she found her way into obstetrics and gynecology. The episode covers her path from chemical engineering to medicine, why she chose a hands-on specialty, and what she loves about delivering babies, surgery, and long term patient relationships.

Connect with our Guest:

Sara Frederick

Connect with the Hosts:

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn
• Douglas Corey Campbell - X

Dr. Abhishek Parmar and Dr. Corey Campbell keep things loose in this episode as they move from podcast housekeeping to a spirited conversation about college football. They dig into why the sport is so entertaining, how NIL has changed the landscape, and why the chaos around rankings, transfers, and conference realignment keeps fans hooked. Abhishek learns it N-I-L and not “nil.”

·       In this episode, Dr. Parmar and Dr. Campbell make the case that college football is uniquely entertaining because it is easy to follow, has fewer games than baseball, and creates higher emotional stakes with fewer data points.

·       Dr. Campbell argues that the sport works because it is a drama machine - full of heroes, villains, and college kids making high-pressure mistakes on a national stage.

·       They discuss how college football functions as a transitional space where young athletes are thrust into adulthood, pressure, and public scrutiny before they are ready.

·       The conversation contrasts college football with the NFL, where the talent level is higher but the outcomes can feel more predictable.

·       They move into NIL, explaining the basic idea that athletes should be able to profit from their name and likeness, while also noting that the system currently feels chaotic and underregulated.

·       They debate possible fixes for the current system, including standardized contracts, transfer rules, and whether a salary cap would make the sport more fair or just entrench the blue bloods.

Connect with the Hosts:

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn
• Douglas Corey Campbell - X

Drs. Corey Campbell and Abhishek Parmar talk about leadership in surgery through the lens of operating room culture, training, and decision-making under pressure. They unpack how surgical leadership differs from management, why clear expectations matter, and how calm, safety-focused communication can shape better outcomes for teams and patients. In this episode, Corey and Abhishek also break down what makes a good OR leader, compare leadership styles, and use real-world examples from aviation, sports, and surgery to show how leaders perform when things go wrong.

Key topics

• We discuss why surgeons are often leaders by default when they enter the operating room, even if they do not think of themselves that way.
• Corey draws a distinction between leadership and management, arguing that leadership is vision and direction, while management is the technical work of getting people and systems aligned.
• The conversation explores how toxic teaching can still produce technical skill, but often at the cost of trust, morale, and team performance.
• Corey describes how better surgical management means setting clear expectations for residents, med students, nurses, and anesthesiology teams before the case starts.
• Abhishek shares how his approach has shifted toward creating a culture of safety, calm, and predictability so everyone in the room feels comfortable contributing.
• They use Captain Tammy Joe Schultz and the Southwest Airlines emergency as an example of calm leadership under extreme pressure.
• They discuss whether yelling in the OR is ever appropriate, settling on the idea that context matters, but personal attacks and humiliation are destructive.

Timestamps

00:00 - Cold open
03:01 - Why leadership in surgery is worth talking about
04:09 - Does being a surgeon make you a better leader or a worse one?
05:05 - The “dark side” model of surgical training and anger as fuel
06:53 - Why leadership and management are not the same thing
07:22 - What real management looks like in surgery
09:30 - Abhishek’s early leadership style and why residents said they wanted him “less like Parmar”
11:30 - CEO versus COO: vision versus operations
13:14 - How teams align around a shared vision for a successful operation
14:45 - Examples of excellent OR leadership
15:05 - Building a culture of safety in an intimidating environment
16:37 - Type A versus type B leadership styles in surgery
18:28 - The tradeoffs of being highly meticulous versus relationally trusted
21:06 - Adam Galinsky’s Inspire and the psychology of leadership
22:02 - The Southwest flight emergency and Tammy Joe Schultz’s calm under pressure
23:58 - Visionary, exemplary, mentor: what strong leaders actually do
26:36 - The Costa Concordia captain as the opposite of leadership
29:52 - How surgical leadership changes when things stop going according to plan
31:25 - Why surgery tests leadership more often than routine pilot work
33:00 - Why the pilot analogy breaks down for surgeons
34:49 - Is authoritarian leadership ever appropriate in surgery?
35:05 - Is yelling in the OR ever okay?
37:08 - Parenting, pilots, and why calm communication matters in vulnerable moments
39:49 - When stress, stakes, and incompetence trigger emotion in the OR
41:21 - Nick Saban, Brian Kelly, and what actually makes a great coach or leader
45:07 - Rapid fire: are leaders born or made?
52:48 - Closing jokes and sign-off

Connect with the Hosts:

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn
• Douglas Corey Campbell - X

This episode of Dueling Scalpels features Dr. Abhishek Parmar and Corey Campbell digging into what AI actually changes in medicine. They focus on where it helps, where it creates risk, and why context, expertise, and accountability still matter. TL:DR: “AI makes you more capable, but it makes you dumber as well.”

In this episode:

• Dr. Parmar and Dr Campbell discuss whether AI makes clinicians more capable or simply more dependent on fast answers.
• They break down AI use in diagnostics, therapeutics, research, and documentation.
• Dr. Campbell argues that AI can improve efficiency but may weaken learning, especially for trainees.
• Dr. Parmar shares how he already uses AI for clinical documentation and why he sees it as a time saver.
• The two debate whether AI-generated notes, reports, and recommendations create medico-legal risk.
• They explore which specialties are most exposed to automation, especially radiology and pathology
• They also look at AI-assisted video review in surgery and whether it could help improve performance.
• The conversation widens into concerns about AI flooding medical research with polished but low-value output.

Timestamps

(00:00) Opening banter and setting up the episode
(01:04) The Odyssey, Greek mythology, and why updates still matter
(04:28) Why they wanted to talk about AI in medicine
(06:19) Data centers, energy use, and local community costs
(10:24) Does AI threaten humanity, or just make people dumber?
(11:00) AI, Google, and why easy answers may not stick
(12:25) Where AI fits best: diagnostics, therapeutics, and research
(13:28) Experience versus machine learning in surgical judgment
(15:27) The difference between remembering a task and knowing why to do it
(18:24) Using AI for clinical documentation in real practice
(20:05) Why medical documentation exists in the first place
(21:30) AI-generated police reports and medico-legal concerns
(23:02) Final responsibility when AI helps write the note
(24:48) Why context and expertise still matter more than raw information
(26:11) AI as the internet’s most polished and most unreliable extension
(28:21) Which specialties are most at risk from AI
(29:50) Self-driving cars and the same accountability problem
(31:51) Using AI and video review to score robotic surgery
(37:23) Whether AI should be used as a residency gatekeeper
(41:37) Rapid fire on AI in medicine, training, and research
(44:05) Why good surgeons stay introspective and keep learning
(46:21) The disruption from laparoscopic and endovascular transitions
(48:03) AI and the risk of flooding research with junk output
(51:35) Medical research, truth, and why AI makes that harder
(52:46) Closing thoughts

Connect with the Hosts:

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn
• Douglas Corey Campbell - X

In this episode, hosts Corey and Abhishek dig into the societal challenges facing men and boys in the 21st century. They cover biological development differences, education gaps, cultural expectations, and the impact of technology on social bonds—highlighting what societal structures could do to support healthier male identities.

Key topics:

• The impact of neurodevelopmental differences between boys and girls, including delayed impulse control in boys and implications for education.
• The rise of gender disparities in academic performance, especially in the US, with statistics on dropout rates, college enrollment, and postgraduate achievement among Black women versus Black men.
• The influence of societal expectations and gender roles, including men's diminished sense of purpose as traditional roles evolve.
• The decline of male friendships and social interactions, partly due to technology and social media reducing meaningful in-person contact.
• The concept of positive peer pressure and expectations as drivers for self-improvement among men.

Timestamps

00:00 - Introducing the episode and the provocative topic of men’s societal struggles
02:00 - Debunking myths about male and female development differences
05:00 - The impact of societal changes on boys’ education and maturation
08:00 - How gender gaps in school performance and expectations are shifting
11:00 - Developmental differences in impulse control and maturity in boys versus girls
14:00 - The influence of social expectations and opportunities on success
17:00 - The rise of women in higher education and the changing landscape for Black men and women
21:00 - The decline of male friendships and its societal implications
27:00 - How technology shifts have reduced human interaction and community building
34:00 - The cultural perception of masculinity and the loss of purpose among men
38:00 - Strategies and ideas for supporting boys and men in a changing world
44:00 - Rapid-fire questions about stereotypes and societal expectations

Resources & Links:

• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Richard Reeves - Buy on your local bookstore or online
• The Center on American Life - Men Friendship Survey
• Finnish Education System
• George Gilder on Gender Roles and Society
• The Stakes of Modern Masculinity - Book or article reference

Connect with the Hosts:

• Abhishek Parmar - LinkedIn
• Douglas Corey Campbell - X