In this episode of Behind the Knife in surgical education, the Cleveland Clinic General Surgery Education Team explores the past, present, and future of resident autonomy in the operating room. With guest colorectal surgeons Dr. Tracy Hull (recently retired) and Dr. David Rosen (early career faculty), we discuss how autonomy was granted in “the good ole days,” how educational culture and institutional pressures shape current practice, and what thoughtful autonomy looks like moving forward. Through candid stories—from emergent cases and missed enterotomies to thumbtacks pulled off the wall to stop bleeding—we get a nuanced look at what surgical independence really means, and how to responsibly develop it.

Join hosts Pooja Varman, MD, Judith French, PhD, and Jeremy Lipman, MD, MHPE, for this conversation about what it means to train competent, confident, and independent surgeons.