Surgery

The Mayo Surgical Practice

Next Day Surgery
Mayo Clinic's blue-orange surgical calendar allows Mayo to offer next-day surgery whenever it is needed or wanted. Read about Mayo's unique surgical practice.

Mayo Clinic has a unique system of operating that dates to the Mayo brothers. They set up a system so that one of the brothers was always available to consult with the other doctors on potential surgical patients. So the brothers operated on alternating days. This practice is still followed today. Surgeons at Mayo Clinic are assigned to an every-other-day schedule of operating – blue days and orange days. They operate on one day and on the next day they see their postoperative patients and consult with other doctors on their patients. This approach enables surgeons, staff and residents to participate in the continuity of care and follow-up of patients.