A surgeon’s life is defined by long hours, exacting focus, and countless critical decisions that impact the lives of others. They go through years of training to develop a stamina that can sustain the deepest, complex pressures. But just like the rest of us, they rely on small rituals and routines to keep their days steady, mind sharp, and energy plugging along.
In Routine Procedures, we’re taking a closer look at the daily habits—from breakfast choices to favorite shoes—that shape our surgeons’ work and life.
Early Riser, Knife Forger, Peanut Butter Enthusiast
James Lee, MD
Chief of Endocrine Surgery
What time does your alarm go off in the morning?
4:40am.
Snooze or no snooze?
I have to say my alarm hasn’t gone off in probably the last decade because I usually beat it. That may be pathology, not bragging. What does it say about you if you can’t sleep past five o’clock? I don’t know, that’s a pretty sad statement.
Breakfast of choice (especially before a big day)?
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
First thing you do when you get to work:
I usually do some light office-based exercise, stretching, pushups, just to fully wake up. Then I tackle the inbox.
Do you have any pre-op rituals or routines?
I like to be there when the anesthesiologists are putting the patients to sleep. Surgery is a team sport, and that’s their critical moment, like takeoff or landing for a pilot. Everything’s calm and quiet, and it gives me time to think through the operation—what I expect to find, what to watch for. It’s my way of pre-gaming the case.
Is there music in your OR?
This is going to sound pathologic again, but no. I don’t listen to music in the OR because I like to have a hundred percent of my focus on the operation. I really like music, but it can put me in too much of a zen state and distract me.
Favorite shoes for long days standing in the OR:
Merrells. They’re the best.
Favorite part of your day:
Talking with my partners about what’s happened during the day, the operations we’ve done, decompressing, just shooting the breeze.
What’s always in your lab coat pocket or bag?
Post-it notes.
Any non-medical habit that helps you stay focused?
I do blacksmithing. It’s a great way to get your aggression out by pounding hot steel. It’s tactile and physical, different from surgery but with a surprising amount of overlap. I got into it when I turned 50; my family gave me “experiences” instead of gifts. My wife and I took a woodworking class, and my son and I did knife making. Now we forge knives together.
Most underrated part of your job:
All of the staff we work with. It’s easy to focus on the surgeons, but none of what we do is possible without our admins and physician extenders. When you look at patient’s comments, most of the feedback is about how great the office staff and mid-levels are—they make the patient experience.
When you finally get home, what’s the first thing you do?
If I haven’t gotten “Genius” on NYTimes Spelling Bee yet, that’s the first thing I do.
If one of your patients saw you outside the hospital, they’d be surprised to see you…
Cooking. I really enjoy it. I like making new things, working with ingredients I have; repeating old dishes is less interesting. Baking, though—that’s precise. Scale and all.
More routines:
Abe Krikhely, MD
Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery and Bariatric Surgery
Roshni Rao, MD
Chief of Breast Surgery
John Chabot, MD
Chief of GI/Endocrine Surgery
Executive Director of the Pancreas Center
Jason Hawksworth, MD
Surgical Director, Adult Liver Transplantation
Chief of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Division of Abdominal Organ Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery
Emile A. Bacha, MD
Chair, Department of Surgery
Surgeon-in-Chief, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center