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. 2022;1(1):2.
doi: 10.1007/s44250-022-00002-w. Epub 2022 Sep 12.

Why non-technical skills matter in surgery. New paradigms for surgical leaders

Lorenzo Cobianchi  1   2 , Francesca Dal Mas  3 , Juan Manuel Verde  4 , Alain Garcia-Vazquez  4 , Jacopo Martellucci  5 , Lee Swanstrom  4 , Luca Ansaloni  1   2
Affiliations

Why non-technical skills matter in surgery. New paradigms for surgical leaders

Lorenzo Cobianchi et al. Discov Health Syst. 2022.

Abstract

The surgical literature is paying more and more attention to the topic of soft or non-technical skills (NTS), defined as those cognitive and social skills that characterize high-performing individuals and teams. NTS are essential in supporting surgeons in dealing with unexpected situations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, NTS have been considered crucial in defining situation awareness, enhancing decision making, communicating among groups and teams, and fostering leadership. With a "looking back and planning forward" approach, the current perspective aims at deepening the contribution of NTS for surgeons to deal with the unexpected challenges posed by the COVID crisis, surgical emergencies, the introduction of new technologies in clinical practice, to understand how such skills may help shape the surgical leaders of the future.

Keywords: COVID-19; Non-technical skills; Soft skills; Surgical education; Surgical leaders.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests for this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
NTS/Soft skills in surgery after the COVID-19 era. Source: Authors’ elaboration
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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