So I've been spending about 10 hours per week (of my "free time") in the surgical theater at the hospital. I teach anatomy with a local surgeon and he's invited me to go and observe. I started going the end of last semester and now that everyone knows me there I've sort of been accepted in as part of the team.
He started me out gradually doing things like switching on the suction and moving equipment, but later graduated to doing things that required gloves. Now I'm asked to scrub in and I get to do 'real' things.
On Thursday, I was assisting the chief surgeon in a incisional hernia repair and after he was finished and was about to close, he asked the scrub nurse for suture material and asked her to give some to me as well. I've practiced my knots and suturing on cadavers--so I was ready to go--but this was the first time I'd ever sewn up living tissue and I was thrilled. I can't believe they are giving me this kind of experience and training.
You may not be interested in this, but today I got do a little bit of scraping for a D&C for a women with uterine fibroids and then assist with a major hysterectomy. There were a lot of bleeders for the hysterectomy and we (three surgeons + me, 4 nurses and the anesthesiologist) were in there for over 5 hours; and I walked out just plastered with blood: it was amazing. (oh yeah, still no fainting!)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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