Cold Steel: Canadian Journal of Surgery Podcast

Canadian Journal of Surgery
  • 5.0 (4)
  • LIFE SCIENCES
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

The podcast dedicated to discussing how surgeons can be the best versions of themselves, inside and outside the operating room. Hosted by surgeons Chad Ball and Ameer Farooq, Cold Steel explores the many facets of surgical life with guests at the cutting edge of surgical science. The official podcast of the Canadian Journal of Surgery.

  1. E192 - CMPA x Cold Steel: Theatre Arts and the Pursuit of A Better OR Culture

    APR 28

    E192 - CMPA x Cold Steel: Theatre Arts and the Pursuit of A Better OR Culture

    While we hope that none of  us “botch a surgery”, medico-legal concerns are issues that affect most surgeons at some point in their careers. Previously on the podcast, Dr. Richard Mimeault and Liise Honey spoke to us about the landscape of medico-legal concerns in surgery, and the anatomy of a lawsuit. In this episode, we talk about the CMPA's innovative approach to try to prevent errors from happening in the first place. Richard Mimeault and Elisabeth Normand join us to talk about "Theatre Arts", a workshop developed by the CMPA to help OR teams improve the quality of the care, and most importantly, improve the culture and dynamics of the team. In this episode we talk about the Theatre Arts workshop and how improving culture may have profound impacts on patient safety and satisfaction.  Links: Theatre Arts workshop: https://www.cmpa-acpm.ca/en/education-events/workshops/workshop-theatre-artsCMPA x Cold Steel on Medicolegal risks for surgeons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mkw68prEP0CMPA x Cold Steel – the Anatomy of a Lawsuit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRUh95LauFw Contact the CMPA: https://www.cmpa-acpm.ca/en/connect/contact-us

    51 min
  2. E191 - Six Lessons of Leadership: A Conversation with Varun Kapila

    APR 14

    E191 - Six Lessons of Leadership: A Conversation with Varun Kapila

    Dr. Varun Kapila is a vascular surgeon in Brampton, Ontario. He is the author of “Six Lessons for Everyday Leadership: From the Operating Room Into Everyday Life, What Surgery Taught Me About Leadership That Can Be Applied by Everyone”. In this episode we delve into Dr. Kapila’s thoughts on leadership and why everyone can be a leader in their own lives. Links: https://www.amazon.ca/Six-Lessons-Everyday-Leadership-Operating-ebook/dp/B0GQWHNYFS https://learn.hms.harvard.edu/insights/learner-stories/driving-system-level-change-through-surgical-leadership https://ontariohealth.ca/clinical/cardiac-stroke-vascular/abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-programhttps://www.cmaj.ca/content/196/4/E112 https://www.thestar.com/news/hes-not-young-hes-my-doctor/article_bcec69e9-2822-54cf-bed1-c2322cefc558.html

    47 min
  3. E190 - The Anatomy of Expectations Can We Define What A Surgeon's Job Should Look Like

    APR 7

    E190 - The Anatomy of Expectations Can We Define What A Surgeon's Job Should Look Like

    For a newly graduated surgical resident, one of the most interesting and perplexing question that many folks have to deal with is a surprisingly simple one: what should a full-time surgical job look like? For many of us, we simply looked at what our predecessors job looked like, and modeled our own careers after them. This meant ensuring that our schedules were jam-packed with clinical activities every day, without much consideration for other aspects of our career (such as call and research, for example). At the beginning of March, the American College of Surgeons released a framework of standards of what they think reasonable expectations are for a surgeon’s job. We have the link to the paper in the shownotes. The ACS is the one of the largest surgical organizations in North America, and this standard framework they have put out is really a statement on what they think is necessary to ensure that surgeons have a sustainable career. They put out standards for call, access to the OR, access to clinic, resource access, inpatient census, clinical support, and even fatigue mitigation. Dr. Pat Murphy, trauma and acute care surgeon at the Medical College of Wisconsin, was a previous guest on the show to talk about his work trying to define what a full time acute care surgeon should look like. He actually brought this framework to our attention, and we invited him to join us once again on Cold Steel to discuss the implications of such a framework.We would love to hear your thoughts. Send us an email at podcast.cjs@gmail.com, or find us on X (@colsteelpod, @ameerfarooq & @pbatesmurphy) Resources from this episode: Wood, Douglas E MD, FACS, FRCSEd; Wolinsky, Philip R MD, FACS2; Dodgion, Christopher M MD, MSPH, MBA, FACS3; Farmer, Diana Lee MD4; Gantt, Nancy L MD, FACS5; Napolitano, Lena M MD, FACS, MAMSE6; Timmons, Shelly D MD, PhD, FACS. FAANS7; Welsh, David J MD, MBA, FACS8; Winfield, Robert D MD, FACS9; Bura, Connie BA10; Essig, Rachael MD11; Turner, Patricia L MD, MBA, FACS10. Developing Specialty-Specific Workplace Standards for Surgeons: A Framework to Support Sustainable Surgical Careers. Journal of the American College of Surgeons ():10.1097/XCS.0000000000001880, March 03, 2026. | DOI: 10.1097/XCS.0000000000001880https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/news-publications/news-and-articles/acs-brief/march-3-2026-issue/acs-releases-workplace-standards-framework-to-support-sustainable-surgical-careers/Pat Murphy on Cold Steel: https://www.canjsurg.ca/content/e184-pat-murphy-workforce-planning-acute-care-surgeryhttps://calnewport.com/

    40 min

  4. MAR 17

    E189 - The Heart of the Matter: Paul Fedak on the Pursuit of Balance and Excellence

    Paul Fedak is a cardiac surgeon and translational scientist at the University of Calgary. He has written and spoken about what it means to pursue excellence and what it might cost us. Dr. Fedak unexpectedly had to cut short his clinical career as a surgeon due to spinal cord issues. The result has been a powerful exploration about identity, meaning, burnout and the pursuit of excellence. This is a conversation about that pursuit. Bio: https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/paul-fedak  Links: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-as-a-heart-surgeon-i-chased-excellence-it-cost-me-my-body-and-my-mind/http://paulfedak.com/https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_fedak_beyond_mastery_how_a_heart_surgeon_found_his_own_hearthttps://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-the-mountain-decides-who-goes-and-who-stays

    53 min
  5. E188 - Systematic Review of Why I Changed My Rank List 14 Times The CaRMS Rank List Episode

    FEB 17

    E188 - Systematic Review of Why I Changed My Rank List 14 Times The CaRMS Rank List Episode

    It's that time of year again. Can you sense it? The anticipation, the anxiety, the dread, the wracking of heart and head? Yes, it's almost time for final year Canadian medical students across the country to submit their rank lists to CaRMS. On this episode we explore the history of CaRMS and the underlying matching algorithms. We then talk about some of our top tips when building your CaRMS rank list. What do you think? How did you make your rank list? Send us an email at podcast.cjs@gmail.com. Links: Young TA. Teaching medical students to lie. The disturbing contradiction: medical ideals and the resident-selection process. CMAJ. 1997 Jan 15;156(2):219-22. PMID: 9012725; PMCID: PMC1226912. https://pmc-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.queensu.ca/articles/PMC1226912/ https://pmc-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.queensu.ca/articles/PMC1226912/Roth AE. The origins, history, and design of the resident match. JAMA. 2003 Feb 19;289(7):909-12. doi: 10.1001/jama.289.7.909. PMID: 12588278.https://impact.stanford.edu/article/how-does-applied-economics-maximize-kidney-transplantsCal Newport’s books: https://calnewport.com/writing/

    25 min

  6. JAN 14 ·  BONUS

    Bonus Episode from EBRS Webinar: "Getting out of the bay faster: Assessing trauma team performance using trauma video review""

    This Evidence Based Reviews in Surgery (EBRS) webinar was filmed July 2025. This webinar was moderated by Dr. Kelly Vogt and Dr. Chad Ball, and featured panelists Dr. Bourke Tillmann and Dr. Emilie Joos. In this EBRS webinar, we discussed Getting out of the bay faster: Assessing trauma team performance using trauma video review" (Maiga et al., 2024). Links: Maiga AW, Vella MA, Appelbaum RD, et al. Getting out of the bay faster: Assessing trauma team performance using trauma video review. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2024;96(1):76-84. doi:10.1097/TA.0000000000004168

    58 min

  7. JAN 14 ·  BONUS

    Bonus Episode from EBRS Webinar: "Structured Exercise after Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer"

    This Evidence Based Reviews in Surgery (EBRS) webinar was filmed November 2025. This webinar was moderated by Dr. Alison Laws and Dr. Ameer Farooq, and featured panelists Dr. Nicole Culos-Reed, Dr. Christopher Booth and Dr. Bishal Gyawali. In this EBRS webinar, we discussed Structured Exercise after Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer (Courneya et al., 2025). Links: Courneya KS, Vardy JL, O’Callaghan CJ, et al. Structured Exercise after Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2025;393(1):13-25. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2502760

    58 min

  8. JAN 14 ·  BONUS

    Bonus Episode from EBRS Webinar: "The INSEMA Trial: Axillary Surgery in Breast Cancer & The SOUND Randomized Control Trial"

    This Evidence Based Reviews in Surgery (EBRS) webinar was filmed May 2025. This webinar was moderated by Dr. Alison Laws and Dr. Kerollos Wanis, and featured panelists Dr. Stephanie Wong, Dr. Sarah Knowles and Dr. Rebecca Warburton. In this EBRS webinar, we discussed Axillary Surgery in Breast Cancer--Primary Results of the INSEMA Trial (Reimer et al., 2024) & Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy vs No Axillary Surgery in Patients With Small Breast Cancer and Negative Results on Ultrasonography of Axillary Lymph Nodes (Gentilini et al., 2023). Links: Gentilini, O. D., Botteri, E., Sangalli, C., Galimberti, V., Porpiglia, M., Agresti, R., Luini, A., Viale, G., Cassano, E., Peradze, N., Toesca, A., Massari, G., Sacchini, V., Munzone, E., Leonardi, M. C., Cattadori, F., Di Micco, R., Esposito, E., Sgarella, A., Cattaneo, S., … SOUND Trial Group (2023). Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy vs No Axillary Surgery in Patients With Small Breast Cancer and Negative Results on Ultrasonography of Axillary Lymph Nodes: The SOUND Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA oncology, 9(11), 1557–1564. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaoncol.2023.3759Reimer, T., Stachs, A., Veselinovic, K., Kühn, T., Heil, J., Polata, S., Marmé, F., Müller, T., Hildebrandt, G., Krug, D., Ataseven, B., Reitsamer, R., Ruth, S., Denkert, C., Bekes, I., Zahm, D. M., Thill, M., Golatta, M., Holtschmidt, J., Knauer, M., … Gerber, B. (2025). Axillary Surgery in Breast Cancer – Primary Results of the INSEMA Trial. The New England journal of medicine, 392(11), 1051–1064. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2412063

    1h 5m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

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The podcast dedicated to discussing how surgeons can be the best versions of themselves, inside and outside the operating room. Hosted by surgeons Chad Ball and Ameer Farooq, Cold Steel explores the many facets of surgical life with guests at the cutting edge of surgical science. The official podcast of the Canadian Journal of Surgery.

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