Know Your Surgery is a patient-facing editorial publication that translates authoritative US medical sources into clear, plain-English guides for surgeries and health conditions. Our work is read by patients, families, and caregivers preparing for procedures, learning about a diagnosis, or trying to make sense of medical advice they have received.
Our Mission
Patients deserve to read about surgery and health in language they can actually understand, sourced from the institutions clinicians trust. Most medical information online is either too technical for non-clinicians or too vague to be useful. We sit in the middle: every article is built from named, verifiable US authorities, then written for someone reading it the night before their pre-op appointment.
Editor-in-Chief
Adeel Naeem Naqi is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Know Your Surgery. He oversees editorial standards, source vetting, and the publication’s commitment to patient-friendly accuracy. Adeel does not hold medical credentials and is not a practicing clinician. The publication exists to translate authoritative US medical sources into plain English for patients and families, not to provide medical advice.
If you have a question about our editorial process or want to suggest a correction, you can reach Adeel at editorial@knowyoursurgery.com.
How We Create Content
Our editorial process is a structured, four-step workflow used on every article we publish:
- Research brief. Each article begins with a structured research brief drawn only from authoritative US medical sources. Tier-one sources include the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute of Mental Health. Tier-two sources include Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Medicine, and other major US academic medical centers. Tier-three sources include US specialty associations such as the AAOS, AHA, ACC, ACS, APA, and ACOG.
- AI-assisted drafting. We use AI tooling to help structure and draft content. Every claim, statistic, and recommendation in an article is traced back to a named tier-one, tier-two, or tier-three source from the research brief before the draft is approved. We do not allow AI to generate medical claims that are not anchored to a sourced fact.
- Human editorial review. A human editor reviews every article for accuracy, plain-English clarity, citation density, responsible framing of risks and outcomes, and adherence to our medical responsibility standards before it goes live. Articles that promise outcomes, sensationalize risks, or rely on unsourced claims are returned for revision.
- Publication and ongoing review. Articles are published with a visible publish date and are reviewed at least once every 12 months for accuracy, source freshness, and alignment with current US clinical guidance. Articles touching on rapidly evolving areas (drug approvals, surgical techniques, new clinical guidelines) are reviewed more frequently.
Transparency About AI-Assisted Authorship
We disclose AI-assisted authorship openly because patients deserve to know how the information they read is produced. AI tooling helps us research faster, structure articles more consistently, and reach more topics than a small editorial team could cover unaided. Every article is anchored to verifiable US medical sources and reviewed by a human before publication. The combination of AI assistance plus human editorial oversight is a deliberate choice, and we believe transparent disclosure of it is more credible than hiding it.
What We Are Not
To be clear about our scope:
- We are not a clinical practice. We do not see patients, run a clinic, or provide direct medical care.
- We do not employ practicing clinicians. Our editorial team is not licensed to practice medicine.
- We do not provide diagnoses. Our articles describe what conditions and procedures involve in general terms; only your own clinician can diagnose you.
- We do not provide treatment recommendations. Our articles describe what treatment options exist and how clinicians typically decide between them; we never recommend a specific treatment for a specific person.
- We are not a substitute for medical advice. Every article carries a clear disclaimer to this effect.
We exist to help patients walk into their next clinical conversation better informed, with better questions, and with a clearer understanding of what their clinicians are talking about. Nothing more, and nothing less.
Editorial Standards
Our public editorial standards include:
- Every clinical claim is traced to a named US authoritative source before publication
- Statistics carry the source name and year
- We avoid outcome promises, sensational language, and unsupported claims
- We provide a final disclaimer on every article
- We use plain American English aimed at a US patient audience
- We update articles when source guidance changes or annually, whichever comes first
For full details, see our Editorial Policy and our Sources & References page.
Corrections
If you believe an article contains an inaccuracy, please email editorial@knowyoursurgery.com with the article URL and the specific concern. We commit to:
- Acknowledging your message within five business days
- Investigating the concern with our source materials
- Updating the article promptly if a correction is warranted, with a visible “Updated:” notice on the page
- Issuing a public retraction when a substantive error has been published
Contact
- Editorial inquiries and corrections: editorial@knowyoursurgery.com
- General questions: Contact Us
We read everything. We may not be able to reply individually to every message, but every editorial concern is reviewed.
Know Your Surgery is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice from a qualified clinician. Always consult your own healthcare provider about your individual situation.