the surgeon, who has clocked up 700 flying hours, said: "The challenge in the cockpit is similar to the challenges in the operating theatre. Any mistakes lead to drastic consequences and you have to make sure everything's perfect.
"I suppose I like living on a controlled edge.
"Since flying, I've introduced checklists in the operating theatre. I've put up signs above taps where you wash your hands before surgery, reminding people to check they have the right patient, the correct X-ray, and such like.
"I train surgeons at Newcastle University and I've introduced log books there. Medicine training is time-based, but in flying it's competency-based. You can't move on until you're competent in that field.
"We can learn a lot from aviation and we're moving towards competency training in medicine.
"Like pilots I have introduced log books for students and I fill them in once they've achieved something. As they pass each exercise, it goes in the log book."
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