The surgeon does not hold the same role as the captain of an aircraft by any means.
I am relieved to know that. Using Pprune discussions as an example, we occasionally read of Generation Y first officer's attitudes bolstered by their lectures on CRM where assertiveness on the flight deck is encouraged.
Time and again one hears of lack of respect for the captain's operational decisions and in turn this causes quiet resentment. One typical discussion occured where the captain asked the F/O to call ATC and request approval for a deviation 30 miles off track to avoid a large thunderstorm ahead seen on radar. The F/O disagreed with the captain's assessment and said he felt 30 miles was too much - and suggested 15 miles deviation was sufficient. This leaves the captain in a difficult situation.
His experience dictated a 30 mile deviation but he can either order in no uncertain terms the F/O do his bidding or he can compromise to keep the F/O happy and say OK make it 20 miles off track. Assertiveness is fine where there is a flight safety hazard but plain idiotic when it comes to deliberately making a point to score a point. And this type of exchange is a lot more common in some airlines than you would expect.
Presumably that would never happen in a surgical procedure where the surgeon is entirely on his own without someone monitoring his every decision and playing assertiveness because he can.