Today was the first day of being on the floor for my internship. We weren't really functioning interns, as the outgoing interns were still handling the cases. But a fellow (new) intern and I were scrubbed into a surgery, and the resident had two incisions to close. She handed me the needle drivers to close the smaller one, I'm assuming because she knows I want to be a surgeon, and I made a complete ass of myself. The incision was at a weird angle relative to me (perpendicular to the floor, rather than a normal incision position), since she was suturing the main incision, so I couldn't really get a good shot at it without standing where the resident was standing. I ended up admitting defeat and backing my needle out and having the resident re-do my sutures.
It was just such a bummer to be handed that opportunity the first day of an internship and do such a silly thing, especially since she was obviously trying to save time (a late surgery on a Friday) by having someone else "competent" help close, rather than letting the student have a shot. My reasoning with myself for the terrible job is that the angle was so bizarre, and I haven't touched suture in well over 2 months.
