They know better — but choose otherwise.
These are not surgeons who lack skill. They lack sincerity. They know what good care looks like — and still act against it. Not because they’re uninformed, but because they’re invested in something else: 🦚 Vanity 🦍 Power 🪞 Ego 🤐 Image 🎭 Reputation 👑 Control 🐍 Influence 💰 Profit 🧪 Fame
Their dishonesty is not accidental. It’s strategic. They bend decisions around self-interest. They treat the patient as a stage, the OR as a brand, and the team as a ladder.
They’re not the worst because they’re loud. They’re the worst because they look functional. Because they get promoted. Because they win awards. Because they’re rarely questioned — and even more rarely corrected.
They don’t just fail the patient. They rewrite the meaning of success to fit their failure.
🧠 What makes it ethical dishonesty? The awareness of harm
The conscious misalignment between values and behavior
The choice to preserve status over integrity
The active erosion of trust — not by mistake, but by habit
🔍 And why does it matter? Because ethical dishonesty cascades: It trains residents in hypocrisy. It normalizes manipulation. It rewards the worst instincts of our system. And worst of all — it performs excellence while sabotaging it.
Bottom line:
These surgeons don’t just operate on the brain. They operate against everything medicine is supposed to mean.