The Naked Surgeon, by Samer Nashef - book review: Uncomfortable numbers on matters of life and death

When Samer Nashef was a student on a vascular surgical unit, he carried out a study that had never been done before in his unit. He compared the mortality rates for the operations carried out by different surgeons in the department. To his surprise, he found that the lowest mortality rates were associated with two non-vascular surgeons. When he asked his audience of vascular surgeons if they wanted to see the comparison of death rates, the atmosphere became icy. His assessment on that unit stated that he was arrogant. Nashef had learnt what happens to medics who rock the establishment boat.