The most dangerous phrase in medicine is this is the way we’ve always done it.

This is one of those internet memes that resonates with our disruptive side. Virally passed on Twitter, it suggests that they’ve just had it wrong all these years and we know what’s right. In some cases they have and we do. Sometimes not.

There are many things in medicine that work really well. Certain procedures, for example, have been perfected. There are, however, instances where our understanding of disease and the technology used to treat disease forces us to pivot and modify a procedure.

It’s easy to suggest that something needs to change. The trick is knowing what needs to stay the same.

And when doe the way we’ve always done it actually make sense?

Image of surgeon William Halstead at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Modified via National Library of Medicine.