Through Psychoanalysis: A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experience of General Surgeons in Conducting Surgeries

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

General surgeons are physicians who have been educated and trained in the diagnosis and preoperative, operative, and postoperative way of patient care just like other professionals in the medical field. Currently, the Philippines has 130,000 licensed physicians and only 70,000 are active in the profession. General surgeons are one of the many outnumbered medical professionals in the Philippines. The purpose of this study was to determine the lived experiences of general surgeons in conducting surgeries and their coping strategies from these lived experiences.

METHODS

The study was qualitative research that described the lived experiences of general surgeons in conducting surgeries. The researcher sent an assent letter, and they identified the desired respondents using snowball sampling or referral sampling. The researcher interviewed three general surgeons with the use of a semi-structured in-depth interview. Thematic analysis was used to transcribe information from the semi-structured interview. Key quotes were highlighted, coded, and sorted into themes.

RESULTS

The thematic analysis revealed that the lived experiences of general surgeons in conducting surgeries include the following: uncontrollable internal suppression of unwanted thoughts, developing resilience and feeling of relief after hard working, time constraints, developing humility and self-assessment under ungovernable cases, needing professionalism and mental strength in dealing with unexpected cases, and social connectedness of people in creation of stronger community. The analysis showed that the general surgeons' coping strategies are as follows: developed personal and social aspect of being, personal improvement habit, enhancement of spiritual beliefs, building up of mental strength, developing acceptance of critics, finding value in the idea of others, having a good sense of judgment, and developing resourcefulness in dealing with difficult situations.

DISCUSSIONS

The results showed that the lived experiences and coping strategies of general surgeons in conducting surgeries vary from social, personal, and spiritual aspects of life. Their coping strategies fuels their drive in providing the best quality of healthcare to their patients. Therefore, general surgeons have a tough job to maintain composure, mental strength, professionalism, faith in God, and self-care despite being in a very demanding job.