Pretty much my thoughts.
It would scare me more than anything. First I would think “are my chances that bad?” then I would question the professionalism of someone that brings their religion into their work. Then I would be sedated and ZzzzZZzzz…
Only briefly, and then only because I have a bizarre, snake-handling back-hills** preacher brother who loves nothing more than getting in my face and praying for my poor damned soul, so I’ve developed a bit of a distaste for the whole idea.
**How bizarre and back-hills? The Little Church of the Single-wide has racks of Chick Tracks and Sword-of-the-Lord pamphlets inside the sanctuary.
Thirding this.
He’s honestly doing all he can to help - that’s the kind of surgeon I want, thanks. I might draw the line at ritual chicken sacrifices, but praying? Sure. And hey, I could be wrong, and it might help. 
If a surgeon wants to pray to an inferior being, I’m not going to try and stop him.
Kidding aside, if I were awake I guess I’d get a little bit of “He’s unsure enough that he needs to pray?” but it wouldn’t bother me that much, as long as he did it quickly and didn’t try to involve me. If I were under, I wouldn’t notice, so it wouldn’t bother me pretty much by definition.
I’d see it as a focusing ritual and a bit of self programming. I’d also see it as him reaching for that bit of distance that doctors need in order to stay sane in a business where all patients will die eventually.
If it’s part of his pre-game warm-up, and it gets him in the zone, good on it.
One of the things my reverent agnosticism has taught me is to respect other people’s beliefs. If the surgeon feels more centered and better prepared by praying aloud over my inert form, then that’s fine with me. If he feels he can better focus on sucessfully operating on me by beheading a chicken and masturbating with the bloody feathers, that’s OK, too. Most of all, I want him clear-headed, centered and focused. However he does that – legally, of course – is okey-dokey by me.
BTW, I submitted this BEFORE reading Rev’s post – but I stand by it. My tolerance level is pretty high, but that’s fodder for a different thread.
If it helped the surgeon operate, I’ll let him dress in a clown suit.
Atheist here. I wouldn’t care about the prayer.
You are correct about the definition of agnosticism. The definition she offered is really the definition of deism. Deists tend to believe the “Watchmaker” model of God–that is, he set the whole thing up, and then just let it do its thing.
Also, her definition of atheism isn’t quite correct. Strong atheism is “there is no god,” weak atheism is “I don’t believe in god.” Subtle, but important difference.
As for me, I’m a strong atheist, and if my surgeon prayed in front of me while I was awake, I’d roll my eyes. If I learned later he/she prayed while I was asleep, I’d roll my eyes. That’s about it.
By the way, I spoke directly to God while I was under. He appreciates your faith, and commands you not to bill me.
I wouldn’t care even if he prayed while I were conscious.
I think it speaks well for a thread when two posters disagree because of the acceptable amount of necrophilic fowl sex. 
No more than if a mechanic prayed before working on my car. However, if I were awake, I’d say I hope he felt he could do the procedure without divine intervention. If not, I’m walking, IVs and all.
(I am not an atheist but) it would never have occured to me that this would indicate a lack of confidence in the surgeon’s skill.
After all, having a perfectly skillful surgeon wouldn’t guarantee a perfectly successful operation.
I’ve said prayers asking for safe travel before a car trip, and it’s not because I lack confidence my (or whoever’s driving’s) skill as a driver.
Ah, you and I differ there, because that’s exactly why I pray before going out and about in bad weather. If I was confident that I and other drivers were skilled enough to avoid danger on icy roads, there’d be no need to pray for guidance.
If I was under at the time, it wouldn’t bother me. If I was consious, it would. I’ve never been a fan of personal prayers being spoken out loud in public without good reason. If a doctor did this, I’d feel that it was unprofessional and possibly a little show that was staged for my benefit.
I wouldn’t mind a doctor telling me that he or she would be praying for me on their own time, but why would I need to be a witness to his or her personal one on one with God?
Actually, that would apply to anyone who wanted to pray for me. Not just doctors.
Just background noise who cares? Pray away.
It’s the “right at the beginning of surgery” bit that’s most worrisome for me. Obviously it’s not too remarkable for a surgeon to express their faith in a divine being (though maybe not a being other than themselves, yak yak, a little surgeon joke there). If a surgeon, perhaps mindful of the “God helps those who help themselves” philosophy, wishes to pray for divine aid toward a successful outcome, that’s all well and good. But why not before the surgery entirely? Why not back in the office, or even at the start of a busy day? The implication that God wouldn’t notice a prayer unless it’s recited immediately prior to the first incision smacks more of magic than religion.
The idea that such a prayer helps to calm the surgeon’s nerves in much the same way as a lucky charm or baseball superstition is not very reassuring to me. I’m not keen on the idea of being operated on by someone whose game can be affected by the presence of a rabbit’s foot or the order in which they put their socks on. What happens if they’re wrist-deep in my chest cavity, and suddenly they notice my Baphomet-shaped birthmark? Will this also affect their surgical prowess? Will they feel the need to start all over again with a fresh prayer before continuing?
Ugh. I knew this would happen when I decided to talk about my lack of belief – it always does. I was laying out my definitons of words, I should have been more clear, but it is what it is. By the way, MW defines “agnostic” as “1. a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.” – the acceptance that whatever higher power there is is unknowable. I feel my definition is close enough. Regardless of whether you “believe there is no god” or “don’t believe in god” the end result, while subtle is the same – you are making a judgement call on the existence or lack thereof of god. What I do falls not under either category. I don’t believe one way or the other. I don’t care. Is there a god? I neither know nor care. No belief. Period. Not “hey, there might be something, but I’m not smart enough to know it”, not “there’s nothing”, not “oh, yeh, there’s something and it’s <whatever deity>” – lack of belief in any form.
Sorry for the hijack. I will remember next time I think about posting to a thread which is religious in nature that I must be more specific in my response.
I wouldn’t care. Anyone can pray to whatever Gods they believe in on my behalf and it won’t worry me in the slightest as long as I’m not expected to participate.