We settled into a small conference room, and I tried to get my Mac to work. For those who routinely talk in front of audiences, I don’t need to tell you that the scariest part of any lecture is the minute before you start while you are waiting for the computer to sync with the projector. Needless to say, it didn’t. Despite my technical difficulties, we managed to get the talk projected and had a very lively discussion. The group was small, so we all crowded around my 15-inch monitor and talked as colleagues about how to do various operations. Though I didn’t have the opportunity to operate with them (the case had been cancelled), I was thoroughly impressed by their obvious expertise (and ability to describe technical facets of surgery in English). These folks, obviously, were very well educated and qualified.
I learned a lot about health care delivery in Lebanon. or example, a night in the local hospital costs about $100 compared to over $1000 in the US. For that reason, length of stay as it relates to cost is not a very big determinant in Lebanon for making health care decisions. Trying to advocate for more technically difficult operations based on a lower length of stay was not impressive to Lebanese doctors. They were most interested in whatever made an operation faster, safer, and more efficient. No matter where you are, surgeons will always put the patient’s safety first.
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