Reflections Of A Surgical Student - Episode 1

My surgery rotation has mercifully come and gone, leaving behind a plethora of memories, emotions, and...oh ya, some knowledge as well. One thing I've learned: surgical wounds heal, but they always leave behind a scar...and sometimes some adhesions. So I will spend the next few posts working on a series called "Reflections Of A Surgical Student", an ex-lap, if you will, of my experience in a surgical rotation. Here are my adhesions...

Episode 1 - Thank You Sir, May I Have Another

Surgery has a solid place as the more brutal of the specialties. The hours are crap, the abuse is crap, and half the time you have your hands in crap (quite literally). But if ever there has been a resilient group of individuals, it is the surgical residents.

These gals and guys deal with early mornings, late nights, shifting schedules, demanding attendings, crappy patients (again...quite literally), and still have to maintain sanity*. They stand up in front of a group of greybeard surgeons and do immaculate presentations and still take a verbal lashing. And tomorrow?...they'll do it again!

For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone chooses this lifestyle. Well...I couldn't understand it; not until I went through this rotation. The reason is, simply put, they LOVE it. They love the challenge, the drive, and the immediate gratification of fixing a problem. No long, drawn-out patient work-ups. Just get 'em in, cut 'em up, put 'em back together, and sew 'em up. There is no feeling like seeing the immediate results, the fruit of your labors, and watching your patient get better right in front of your eyes.

This, coupled with the rush of literally holding another humans life (and bowels) in your hands, is simply like a drug for them. And I can understand that (I'd never choose it in a million years, but I get it.)

I get it, because I myself have had this opportunity. It was during a thoracic surgery where I was able to touch a living, breathing human being's aorta. Now, I've been in an anatomy lab and touched an aorta there...pales in comparison to touching the real thing. Here it was: the lifeblood of this man rushing through the PVC pipe-sized vessel that feeds his entire body. It was amazing.

And so, they get beaten down by the attendings, senior residents, nurses, PAs, medical students...and they come back for more. It's almost a mind-boggling phenomenon...but I get it.

*Some argue this was lost at the point that they chose their field.