Personal Stories Can Help Surgeons Lead Beyond the Bedside

For Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPH, MPA, FACS, the path to becoming a trauma surgeon began when he was the patient.

At age 17, Dr. Sakran was shot in the throat as an innocent bystander after a high school football game. The bullet injured his trachea and carotid artery, and the surgeons who cared for him helped inspire his decision to pursue a career in medicine.

That experience is one of many that have shaped how Dr. Sakran approaches not only patient care, but also leadership.

Today at 4:15 pm, he will bring that perspective to Clinical Congress during “Leading Beyond the Bedside: The Power of Personal Narratives in Medicine,” the first of three presentations in the new “Best of Grand Rounds” Series.

At the center of his presentation is the idea that leadership in medicine does not begin or end at the bedside. Instead, it develops cumulatively through experiences with patients, failures, mentors, and moments that challenge surgeons personally and professionally.

For surgeons, who often are trained to compartmentalize emotion in the service of precision, recognizing the influence of those experiences can be particularly important.

“Our personal narratives aren’t a distraction from clinical excellence; they’re actually a source of it, shaping judgment, resilience, and the ability to lead teams through uncertainty,” Dr. Sakran said.

Stories Can Turn Experience into Influence

Dr. Sakran is a trauma surgeon, executive vice-chair of surgery, and director of clinical operations at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. His work, though, has extended beyond clinical care into public health, research, and policy, including testimony before Congress and national advocacy focused on firearm injury prevention.

During his presentation, he plans to draw on pivotal moments from his own life and career, including his experience as a survivor of firearm violence and moments early in his surgical training that taught him humility.

He also will examine how reflecting on formative experiences, such as a difficult case, the influence of a mentor, or a moment of doubt, can help surgeons become more relatable and trustworthy leaders. For Dr. Sakran, personal narratives can help surgeons use clinical expertise to connect with teams in the OR and broader audiences, including policymakers and the public.

He has seen the power of that connection firsthand in his work on firearm injury prevention. Statistics can demonstrate the scope of firearm injury, but the experience of a single patient can convey the human consequences in a way numbers alone cannot.

“Data persuade the analytical mind, and stories persuade the whole person,” Dr. Sakran said. “A statistic can tell you that firearm injury is a leading cause of death for young people, but a story about a single patient can make an audience feel the weight of that fact, and feeling is often what drives people to act, advocate, or change practice.”

His own experience as a survivor of firearm violence has remained closely connected to that work. After being shot as a teenager, Dr. Sakran recovered at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia and decided to pursue surgery. He eventually specialized in trauma and acute care surgery, treating patients with injuries similar to the one that nearly took his life.

His career also has demonstrated how physicians can use clinical expertise and personal experience to engage audiences beyond medicine. In 2018, after the National Rifle Association told physicians to “stay in their lane” on firearm violence, Dr. Sakran helped propel the #ThisIsOurLane movement, which called attention to the experiences of healthcare professionals caring for patients with firearm injuries.

He has since become a nationally recognized voice on firearm injury prevention and evidence-based policy. In 2023, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine for his leadership in firearm injury prevention and efforts to advance research and policy change.

When Should Surgeons Share Their Stories?

Leading through personal experience also requires judgment, and Dr. Sakran plans to discuss where he draws the line.

“There’s always a risk of oversharing, of a story becoming about the storyteller rather than the lesson, or of reopening something painful in a public setting,” he said.

Before sharing a personal experience, he considers whether the story serves the audience’s understanding or primarily serves as his own catharsis. If it is the latter, he leaves it out. Patient privacy and dignity, he said, are non-negotiable.

The goal is not simply for surgeons to tell more stories. Instead, Dr. Sakran wants them to recognize the experiences they already carry and consider how those experiences influence the way they practice, make decisions, connect with others, and lead.

“I want surgeons to leave asking themselves what stories they’re carrying, and whether they’re using them, or burying them,” he said. “My hope is that some attendees will walk away willing to be a little more open, with their teams and with themselves, about how their experiences shape their leadership.”

Grand Rounds Take a Bigger Stage

Dr. Sakran’s presentation is part of the inaugural Best of Grand Rounds Series, which brings three presentations nominated by ACS members to a broader Clinical Congress audience.

The series was created to showcase Grand Rounds presentations that resonated with surgeons personally and professionally. The three selected presentations examine leadership and personal narratives, resilience and social innovation, and surgery in space.

“How many of us have had those moments in our lives that we've been to a talk, a grand rounds, and it knocked us out of our seat?” said Douglas E. Wood, MD, FACS, FRCSEd, Vice-Chair of the ACS Board of Regents, in describing the new series. “This year at Clinical Congress, we're highlighting some of the best of the best.”

“Leading Beyond the Bedside: The Power of Personal Narratives in Medicine” will take place today from 4:15 to 5:15 pm in Room 201. Kenneth W. Sharp, MD, FACS, will moderate the session, and Kyla P. Terhune, MD, MBA, FACS, will introduce Dr. Sakran.