Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧

Gen Surg Resident @WSUBSOMSurgery | former Ped Surg Research Fellow @CincyKidsSurg | Tweets = mine || He/Him || 🇵🇭

[Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧 @RodGerardo]

Interview season is upon us and one of my favorite questions was "What are you reading?"

So, welcome to my book club - specifically, books that are not about surgery but I apply them to my life as a gen surg resident. Here's a 🧵

Up first is this absolute banger:

[JAMA Surgery @JAMASurgery]

Single-stage laparoscopic common bile duct exploration (#LCBDE) reduced costs and length of stay vs ERCP plus cholecystectomy, with improved net margin in #choledocholithiasis care. https://t.co/HWXYn7Yz0P

[Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧 @RodGerardo]

@rbarbosa91 @mcudworth_MD Very interesting. We did something similar laparoscopic with an endostitch before because I didn’t have enough room to suture robotic. Similarly used ethibond but in hindsight, I would have used barbed permanent instead in the small space

[Eleah Porter MD @EleahPorterMD]

Best Abstract Presentation. SAGES 2026.

Delivered by our chief resident, Dr. Kelly Champlin - calm under pressure, sharp in the data, and unshaken in Q&A.

The message landed: surgery-first isn’t just a procedure - it’s a clinical philosophy.

Proud is an understatement.

[Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧 @RodGerardo]

Reviewer 2: accepted with revisions - the use of cheddar may limit reproducibility in countries outside of the US that utilize softer cheese such as burrata. Furthermore, this excludes crumble cheese varieties such as blue. Please address in the discussion.

[Ron Barbosa MD FACS @rbarbosa91]

Surgery resident @AaronGilani asked why people close the fascia of trocar sites with a figure-of-eight suture instead of a horizontal mattress.

Let us look at these briefly via one of my experiments.
(1/ )

[Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧 @RodGerardo]

When I was an intern, a wise surgeon told me “I can teach a monkey how to do surgery. I have to teach you how to THINK about surgery”

[Dr. Chethan Sathya, MD MSCE @drchethansathya]

There has been a lot of buzz after @elonmusk said @Tesla Optimus robots could replace surgeons in 2 to 3 years. The timeline is unrealistic but the direction is not wrong.

Let us be honest. Surgical technical skill is replaceable. There is enormous variability across humans and robotics has the potential to level that playing field by offering consistency endurance and precision that humans simply cannot match at scale.

That excites me.

And this is not just about hands. There is also real variability in surgical decision making. When to proceed when to pause when to stop. AI driven systems can help here too by integrating data pattern recognition and probabilistic guidance in ways humans do not always do well under pressure.

In many ways that could make surgery better and safer.

Where the hype still gets ahead of reality is full autonomy in the face of true uncertainty. Surgery is filled with moments that are hard to model. Unexpected bleeding anomalous anatomy subtle tissue cues and the judgment of when risk has crossed a line.

We are likely decades away if we ever get there from fully outsourcing that responsibility.

So no surgeons are not disappearing anytime soon. But surgical skill absolutely is becoming more replaceable.

The future is robotics doing more and humans remaining accountable. @EricTopol @grahamwalker @daniel_kraft

[Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧 @RodGerardo]

Me, a general surgeon:

[Ron Barbosa MD FACS @rbarbosa91]

The dying specialty of “General Surgery”, as noted by authors from each and every decade over the last 100 years.

[Matthew Martin, MD, FACS, McRIB @docmartin22]

TGIF in the robot room

[Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧 @RodGerardo]

Yo why does the new predator have an EEA anvil for a hand?

[DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm]

A statue of The Predator from ‘PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS’ at the film’s premiere.

[Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧 @RodGerardo]

Pimping in the middle of a peer to peer?! … might be the move

[Elisabeth Potter MD @EPotterMD]

I’m sharing an actual recent peer-to-peer call that shows what physicians and patients face when trying to get a surgery approved. This call felt as absurd as it sounds.

The peer-to-peer call was to advocate for surgery to prevent and treat lymphedema for a patient with breast cancer. Her risk is high and we can perform a surgery to lower it.

The doctors from the insurance company on the call were an ophthalmologist with a subspecialty in oculoplastic surgery and a plastic surgeon who currently has a cosmetic practice. Neither doctor has ever performed lymph venous bypass…the surgery I was trying to get approved for my patient.

Neither doctor would provide their name or license number.

At the conclusion of the call, the doctors told me that they didn’t have the power to make a determination or decision to perform the surgery. They were just there to inform me of United’s decision to deny it.

The Medical Decision was not up to the doctors on the call. It had already been made by United.

So here I am, appealing again.

Medical decisions should be made by doctors who are well informed and patient-centered. Patients deserve access to the care that they paid for with their premiums.

[Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧 @RodGerardo]

Can’t wait to show this to anesthesia

[Tansu Yegen @TansuYegen]

How long do foods stay in your stomach?

[SAGES is in Vegas in 2027! @SAGES_Updates]

Damn, we're good.

[WSU BSOM Surgery @WSUBSOMSurgery]

Congratulations to our graduating chief residents! The future of surgery is bright 🤩

[Rodrigo Gerardo, M.D. 🟧 @RodGerardo]

The future of MIS: honey, we shrunk the surgeon

[Ian S Soriano 🇵🇭 @FilipinoSurgeon]

Open cholecystectomy

[WSU BSOM Surgery @WSUBSOMSurgery]

Chief photoshoot! 📸

[WSU BSOM Surgery @WSUBSOMSurgery]

📢 APPLY TODAY!!

Our visiting student scholarship application is now open. If you're a medical student interested in general surgery, come rotate with us and see why our residents love training here!

Comes with a $2k stipend and housing is available. LIB for more info!

[WSU BSOM Surgery @WSUBSOMSurgery]

Huge thank you to Dr Rasmussen, our guest for the annual Dewall lectureship. His talk included stories from his experiences on deployment and in academic military surgery.

Adopt the military mentality of “no one left behind” whether you’re on the battlefield or in the OR

[WSU BSOM Surgery @WSUBSOMSurgery]

Thanks, Dr. Dean Anselmo, our guest speaker for the annual Dr. Bernie Lectureship 🎤

He reviewed vascular anomalies and held a special session for residents on how to be successful in academic surgery/bee keeping! 🐝 Don't tell him our amphitheater isn't names after him 🤣

[Ron Barbosa MD FACS @rbarbosa91]

Many residents, when asked what they’re going to do after finishing, answer by saying ‘just’ general surgery.

No one ever says ‘just’ pediatric or ‘just’ vascular surgery.

General surgery seems to have an identity issue and it either needs to be legitimized or to disappear.

[APGAR @APGARcommunity]

Join us for our next event on 3/12 about the use of social media in pediatric surgery, featuring @LotakisMD @brittljohn and @NikhilShah_MD !!! Registration is open and will close on 3/9.

[Nikhil Shah, MD @NikhilShah_MD]

Timing of CDH repair in infants requiring ECLS 🫀🫁 may not be “one size fits all.” Our study from @MottChildren shows that this phenotypically complex population may benefit from a more individualized, hybrid approach 🎯

https://t.co/oOk9BZxkkh