How much practice did it take to get good a suturing, tying etc

[rushrhees]

Thread says it all, just curious. We were in a knot tying workshop the other day. It seems maybe about 1/4 of us got it down pact the first time, while the rest were obviously not quite up yet to par (me included). I figured people have to be practicing these skills to some extent, just curious as to how long it takes others to start getting it done correct. Thanks

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[ldsrmdude]

Thread says it all, just curious. We were in a knot tying workshop the other day. It seems maybe about 1/4 of us got it down pact the first time, while the rest were obviously not quite up yet to par (me included). I figured people have to be practicing these skills to some extent, just curious as to how long it takes others to start getting it done correct. Thanks

Like you said, it's different for everyone. Suturing can be tricky sometimes. Although I think all students should definitely be practicing suturing and hand-tying, suturing a felt pad or tying knots with rope isn't exactly the same thing as suturing skin or hand-tying with ties that are slippery with blood. In addition, as a student, I didn't get many opportunities to practice deep or even sub-Q closure. I would say overall I really started to feel comfortable with my suturing second half of the first year and into second year.

 

[g squared 23]

It takes a long time to do well and efficiently. Constant practice of solid fundamentals are the only way to improve. Then on top of it, there's no way to recreate the added stress of the OR setting into things.

As a current 3rd year resident, some days I'm still not pleased with my suturing, although I guess I'm pretty tough on myself. If you're happy with poor work, then I guess learning to suture hardly takes any time at all.

 

[pacpod]

Like you said, it's different for everyone. Suturing can be tricky sometimes. Although I think all students should definitely be practicing suturing and hand-tying, suturing a felt pad or tying knots with rope isn't exactly the same thing as suturing skin or hand-tying with ties that are slippery with blood. In addition, as a student, I didn't get many opportunities to practice deep or even sub-Q closure. I would say overall I really started to feel comfortable with my suturing second half of the first year and into second year.

I agree with ldsrmdude. Keep practicing at home with a felt pad/skin pad/etc. This is not like the real thing but it will help get your hand movements down. Practice finding a technique for gathering your excess suture. Everyone has a little different way of doing it but it is probably one of the biggest things to slow down suturing.

I also didn't have many opportunities to do deep or sub-Q closing as a student. There were a number of options for skin closure but I really didn't do a lot of it until I started residency this year.

 

[rushrhees]

Thanks for the advice. For me getting new hand motions and that down pat is more of the turtle vs the rabbit. Often I kind of suck at it at start, but a few tries keeps getting better. Just somewhat intimidating seeing others in the workshop getting it right the first go. Extra practice it is then for me.

 

[ldsrmdude]

Thanks for the advice. For me getting new hand motions and that down pat is more of the turtle vs the rabbit. Often I kind of suck at it at start, but a few tries keeps getting better. Just somewhat intimidating seeing others in the workshop getting it right the first go. Extra practice it is then for me.

That's the right attitude, just keep practicing and have patience with yourself. It is definitely a skill that gets better with practice.