Ian W sadly dont believe a word a surgeon tells you
Some years ago a doctor from Africa showed the large number of errors being made in operating theatres - wrong operation, wrong patient, wrong site. He worked tirelessly to get most nations to introduce what is called the WHO check list. We all use it. Fantastic
The only difference is that outside the US we tend to think of surgeons as just doctors not god so it is usually the anaesthetist, who is able to talk to god, who leads the checklist and tells everyone what to do
Seriously, this simple check list has made a massive difference in terms of reducing risk. I totally agree that, although there are major differences between aviation and medicine, the latter can learn a a lot from the former. One of the most important is confidential reporting such as CHIRP - in medicine you can only report an error by going public, and often get crucified.