When it comes to heart surgery, everybody wants the newest technology: smaller incisions, robotics, catheter-based procedures, and now artificial intelligence is playing a major role.

Let me be clear. Many of these advances are extraordinary. They have helped countless patients and will continue to expand. But when it comes to heart surgery, experience still matters most.

One of the most important things I’ve learned in more than three decades as a cardiac surgeon is that good judgment saves lives.

That means not only knowing when to operate, but also knowing when not to operate. It means understanding which procedure is truly best for a particular patient, not simply which one sounds the most attractive.

Patients often ask me, “Doctor, what is the least invasive option?”

My answer is always the same: the least invasive procedure is the one that gives you the safest and most durable result.

The incision is not the operation. A two-inch incision does not matter if the valve fails early, if complications occur, or if the patient ultimately requires a second operation that is even more dangerous than the first.

In heart surgery, experience is not just about technical skill. It is about pattern recognition. It is about managing complications before they become serious or even catastrophic. It is about understanding anatomy, physiology, and risk almost in a three-dimensional way.

Perhaps most importantly, it is about building a culture where the entire team is focused on quality every single day.

I am incredibly fortunate to work with an outstanding team. The best outcomes happen when experience, teamwork, innovation, and judgment all come together.

Technology matters. Innovation matters. But experience still matters too.