In the very early years of open-heart surgery, when the supply of surgeons failed to meet the demand for their services, the giants of cardiovascular surgery would walk from operating room to operating room carrying out the delicate, critical parts of care and leaving their trainees to open or close the patient’s chest. This was an early form of overlapping surgery. It would not be its last. As the waiting list for surgery in the UK’s National Health System exceeds six million, two anesthesiologists attempt a pre-emptive cautioning against adopting overlapping surgery.
