Writing an admiring piece about a likable character is sometimes challenging; the story can end up cloying, empty. In this piece Berg uses narrative and concrete evidence to build his case. Pablo Garza mopped floors at St. Joseph Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Orange County before working his way up, through the strength of his skills and dedication, and becoming an esteemed scrub tech. The piece not only deftly reconstructs Garza’s story but educates us readers about something not commonly known: the scrub tech in the operating room.

Read “Heart Surgery’s Invisible Man,” by Tom Berg

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