The Power of Mistakes Atul Gawande is not just our resident surgeon; he is also a patient. He is anxious before performing surgery, he dwells on mistakes and experiences emotions: he is human and understands us. However, he does not initially appear to share the concerns with his patients. Gawande experiences a long and arduous journey from a young medical student to the doctor he is today. This process of identification with patients is evident in his anthology of essays Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. Dr. Gawande seems to emphasize the importance of making mistakes and how this is a fundamental component of his daily life as a doctor. His mistakes depend on the "good or bad choices" he makes, and regardless, this internal conflict is the result of mistakes made by a doctor and the ability to move forward is considered almost unattainable. For example, in the essay “When Doctors Make Mistakes,” Gawande stands next to his patient Louise Williams, seeing her “blue lips, swollen, bloody throat, and suddenly closed passage” (73). The image of the patient's lifeless body gives broader meaning to the doctor's daily worries. Gawande's use of morbid language helps the reader understand that death is, unfortunately, an aspect of a doctor's career. However, Gawande does not leave the reader to reflect on what emotions ran through him after witnessing the loss of his patient. He writes: “Perhaps a backup suction device should always be on hand and better light more readily available. Perhaps institutions could have trained me better for such crises” (“When Doctors Make Mistakes” 73). The repetition of “maybe” only symbolizes the inability to overcome the mistake. However, this repetitive language also demonstrates the goals a doctor will pursue to save a patient's life (73). Therefore it is not the doctor, but the medicine itself that can be seen as the gateway from life to death or vice versa. While the limitations of medicine may allow a patient's death to occur, a doctor will still experience emotional turmoil after losing someone he or she was trying to eliminate.