The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word CO-OPERATED
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
C
O
-
O
P
E
R
A
T
E
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Was one of a team of surgeons?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case was one of a team of surgeons? = co-operated.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.