This commentary piece appeared in the print version of the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday September 28, 2025 and the online version of the Sentinel on October 8, 2025.
By Dr. Arun Moorjani and Dr. Ravi Gandhi
PUBLISHED: October 8, 2025 at 11:39 AM EDT
We’ve been friends for more than a decade. We met not in a hospital, but in an Orlando kitchen, competing in Iron Chef-style cooking battles with our families. That friendship, forged over food and wide-ranging conversations, has since followed us into the operating room, where we work together to serve patients in some of the most intricate and critical surgical procedures.
And while it’s not necessary for a surgeon and anesthesiologist to be close friends to deliver excellent care, we’ve found that our relationship — built on trust, communication, and mutual respect — has made us better at what we do. A recent study backs this up: researchers found that when surgeons and anesthesiologists work together regularly in what is known as a dyad team, patient outcomes can improve in certain situations.
Brain and spine surgery is among the most delicate and dangerous procedures in medicine. The stakes are high, with a razor-thin margin for error. In these moments, we rely on each other completely. Many cases are emergencies, with bleeding in the brain. Anticipation and communication between team members is especially important in those dire situations, as seconds tick by.
For instance, anesthesiologists finely tune the patient’s blood pressure to manage blood flow to the brain. The team has to proactively communicate the need for more or less blood flow. If Ravi is dissecting deep into the brain, Arun may reduce blood volume to minimize swelling. If Ravi is clamping a vessel to isolate an aneurysm, Arun may increase flow to protect surrounding tissue.
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