General Surgery

I've had a wonderful experience in my surgery rotation so far and have been very fortunate to work with yet another group of amazing people! Everyone has been so welcoming, patient (even though I'm sure they're swearing at me in their head...Ha), and willing to teach me anything. While I would have never imagined myself doing surgery before this, I can honestly say that I've really enjoyed my time here and will be disappointed to leave! I have a feeling that I'm going to love so many specialties and have a hard time deciding when all this is said and done with!

There are a several things I've had the pleasure of doing in surgery... making incisions, retracting, holding the lap cameras, suctioning, cyst excision, wound closure, and a few others. As a student, it's a lot of "hold this" and "look here", but scrubbing in and being part of a surgery is so exciting! Being able to see the internal anatomy and getting to feel it with your own hands is absolutely AMAZING! One of my favorites is to see bowel peristalsis during an open abdominal surgery ~ so cool! The human body never ceases to amaze me! My first suturing experience was rather interesting, as I had to stitch up my preceptor's hand after a slip with the scalpel. Of all the times he could have cut his hand for the first time... of course I had to be there =)! His hand still seems to be functioning, so I guess that counts as a success?!

Most of being a student is trying to NOT look like a complete idiot, a daily goal of mine in which some days I succeed and others I do not! Ha... There have been so many times when I've thought "I wonder if I look as stupid as I feel" ~ which I've come to find out is a general consensus among many of my classmates. Throughout PA school, you basically lose every part of yourself in an attempt to become a (somewhat... Ha) competent medical provider in two years. During this time, we give up our normal lives and devote everything to our studies... we no longer eat or exercise like we should, little time for family/friends, we're mentally broken and numb to every ridiculous assignment (i.e. read 80 pages and only 2/18 quiz questions is actually from the reading), stress becomes the norm, sleep is a reward, and not mention the level of irritation you develop against the rest of the world. Thank goodness for supportive families and PA friends to suffer alongside! =) I have been blessed with a wonderful support system and amazing experiences so far... almost 2 rotations down, 5 more to go!  

In an attempt to maintain my sanity, I try to find time for laughter! If you don't work in medicine or haven't been a student of medicine, you may not find these quite as funny... When I need a good laugh, I visit this site and typically laugh until I cry! Enjoy...

whatshouldwecallmedschool:

HOLDING RETRACTORS

WHEN A PROFESSOR TELLS US TO HAVE FUN OVER THE WEEKEND...

I’m like:

WHEN MY PRECEPTOR SENDS ME HOME EARLY FOR THE DAY

I’m like:

WHEN A NON-MED FRIEND OR FAMILY ASKS ME TO HANG OUT DURING SURGERY ROTATION

I’m just like:

(the original video for this little clip is even more amusing... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7UgAprdpM&feature=related) 



CHECKING OUT THE WAITING ROOM AT THE DERM CLINIC
(frankly, I think this applies to most waiting rooms... LOL)

TRYING TO SCRUB OUT OF MY SURGICAL GEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME

I was like:

Bahahahaha.... I could go on forever ~ love that website! 2 weeks left and next up is Emergency Medicine...

~ Lacie