Fostering an open surgical culture: strategies to eliminate inappropriate behavior in surgical practice

Surgery is a demanding and stressful profession. Unfortunately, inappropriate behavior is still not banished from the daily surgical practice and we are dealing with the negative consequences (e.g. negative working environments or burn-out). To adequately treat this type of behavior we first have to acknowledge its existence and create a proper path to discuss it inside our own ranks. The only manner to achieve this, is through an open culture. An 'open surgical culture' is the key, as it creates an environment with psychological safety and allows all involved parties to be able to speak up without fear for retaliation. Theoretical models such as Bateson's pyramid, McClelland's iceberg, and Dweck's Growth Mindset Theory can serve as valuable sources of inspiration to addressing cultural change by approaching both individual and organizational levels. Examples of cultural change attempts can be as small as discussing inappropriate behavior through pocket cards with statements of certain behavior or during national conferences, e.g. the annual meeting of the Dutch Surgical Society (Chirurgendagen). Only together we are able to achieve an open surgical culture, in order to ban mistreatment from the surgical profession. Here a roadmap to achieving an open surgical culture is presented and discussed.