News from Canada & Experts in Their Field: Surgeons

01/18/2006 at 10:00 a.m.

A conversation on the week's news in Canada from our Canadian correspondent, Vaughn Palmer, political correspondent for the Vancouver Sun. Also this hour: The Surgeon's hands. How do surgeon's keep their hands healthy? What kind of training do they go through to keep their fingers tactile and sensitive? How important is touch to successful surgery? Are the hands of surgeons gifted? Over the past month, we've been talking with people who use their head and their hands in their work. Our 'How To' series continues today with surgeons. Call in with your questions.

Guests:
Vaughn Palmer political correspondent for the Vancouver Sun
Richard Ellenbogen, M.D. chairman of neurological surgery at the University of Washington School of Medicine, the Theodore S. Roberts Endowed Chair in Neurological Surgery, the Chief of Neurological Surgery at Harborview Medical Center
Eric Froines, M.D., F.A.C.S. chief of general surgery, Capitol Hill Specialty Center Group Health Permanente

T. S. Eliot wrote in one of his 'Four Quartets':
The wounded surgeon plies the steel
That questions the distempered part;
Beneath the bleeding hands we feel
The sharp compassion of the healer's art
Resolving the enigma of the fever chart.