1 week down

[Green Chimneys]

51 to go as an M3. Scratch surgery off my list as anything I could ever possibly see myself doing. The hours are horrible, the cases themselves are not near as enthralling as I'd hoped, standing and not moving sucks, and despite consistently putting in 15+ hour days, I feel like I need much more time to get my work done since I'm expected to spend the majority of the morning and early afternoon in the OR and, the late afternoon in class. As I watch the attendings put in almost as many hours and "walk" at a runners pace on rounds and I know for certain that I could not do this when I am their age. On the upside, the residents have been nice and willing to teach when they have time. I never really thought surgery would be right for me, and now I'm sure of it.

At least now I know, and knowing is half the battle! GI JOE!!!

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[ShyRem]

Great. I have surgery rotation first starting in about 3 weeks.

 

[Green Chimneys]

You'll be fine. I'm surviving, and no matter how much I don't like it, I only have push through 8 weeks. There are some people who absolutely love surgery and want to make a career out of it, god bless em, but it's certainly not me. Perhaps you'll be one of those people. I hope you enjoy it, but even if you don't at least we'll have the rest of M3 by the a$$ on a downhill drag.

 

[Ypo.]

Be thankful you have it early. I had it as my last rotation and by that time I had lost a lot of motivation, which of course is what you need the most on that rotation.

 

[45408]

Two weeks of medicine down....

 

[Hurricane95]

OP, you described my sentiments exactly, word for word. Only difference is im starting my 4th week of surgery. Each day that passes convinces me more that surgery is not for me. For now I'm aiming for either internal medicine (w cardio or GI fellowship hopefully) or anesthesia. All of the older anesthesia attendings I know suffer from "weekend tan syndrome," a condition resulting from spending all of their weekend out on their boat having fun. Sounds pretty intriguing. The medicine fields are very interesting to me too.

 

[JaSam]

lol yea, OP, you hit most of the big points for me as to why I don't want to do surgery. Theres tons more of course. But I think I pretty much knew there was no way I'm going the surgery route when I couldn't even F+cking wake up for my 8 am sessions at school as a 1st or second year. I'm on med rotation right now and just finished 1 week (hell yea!) but will switch over to surgery soon enough. I must say waking up that early and working these long hours as a 3rd year at times makes me very delirious and confused. Like I never know the date or day of the week because my schedule is like Wake up, commute, work, commute back, sleep and its like a continuum of pure crappy hell.
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[Law2Doc]

Great. I have surgery rotation first starting in about 3 weeks.

Don't fret -- it's fun, just bad hours.

Guys, it's a bad idea to start the weekly countdown until you are on your last rotation. This is a marathon of a year.

 

[Green Chimneys]

I wasn't exactly starting a countdown, L2D. Just celebrating the fact that I survived one week of surgery and contemplating how I'm going to make it through the rest. So far this week has been a bit better though. Two words: comfy shoes.

 

[JaSam]

I wasn't exactly starting a countdown, L2D. Just celebrating the fact that I survived one week of surgery and contemplating how I'm going to make it through the rest. So far this week has been a bit better though. Two words: comfy shoes.

wasn't there something about bending your knees every know and then to allow better circulatory flow thru the popliteals so you don't faint after standing like that for so long?
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[Law2Doc]

wasn't there something about bending your knees every know and then to allow better circulatory flow thru the popliteals so you don't faint after standing like that for so long?
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Bending knees is definitely a must. Along with not missing pre-OR bathroom opportunities, having enough fluids, and having something caloric before you start. All too often the 2 hour endoscopic procedure ends up becoming the 7 hour open procedure, so you'd better be ready.

 

[Ypo.]

wasn't there something about bending your knees every know and then to allow better circulatory flow thru the popliteals so you don't faint after standing like that for so long?
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I thought bending your knees actually kinked the popliteals (isn't that why kids with tetralogy of fallot do it?). Maybe it's not the same unless it's a deep bend.

I always used to just shift from foot to foot. I never thought I was going to faint, just my feet would hurt especially when on call.

I was told by a marine that if you periodically squeeze/flex your thigh muscles it helps to increase the venous return.

 

[Ashers]

I was told by a marine that if you periodically squeeze/flex your thigh muscles it helps to increase the venous return.

I learned that in marching band in college (thigh or calf), after I nearly passed out and my section leader witnessed it. Then my class learned about it in phys M1 year. It's a really good thing to do that in long surgeries when you can get yelled at for moving since you stay pretty still.

 

[Law2Doc]

I thought bending your knees actually kinked the popliteals (isn't that why kids with tetralogy of fallot do it?). Maybe it's not the same unless it's a deep bend.
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I was told by a marine that if you periodically squeeze/flex your thigh muscles it helps to increase the venous return.

Yeah it's not supposed to be a sharp bend (you won't have that opportunity anyhow -- you need to keep your waist at waist height or you endanger the sterile field). Just enough to keep the blood moving.

 

[JaSam]

Bending knees is definitely a must. Along with not missing pre-OR bathroom opportunities, having enough fluids, and having something caloric before you start. All too often the 2 hour endoscopic procedure ends up becoming the 7 hour open procedure, so you'd better be ready.

ah crap. I'm on a diuretic and I also get hypoglycemic really fast cuz I'm tall and really need the fuel to run the machine ya know? Damn, I'll probably be the guy who faints during operations. I'm looking forward to surg rotation less and less now.
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[Law2Doc]

Damn, I'll probably be the guy who faints during operations. I'm looking forward to surg rotation less and less now.
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There's one in every class. Either a fainter or someone who needs to scrub out at an inopportune time. Do what you gotta do, but some surgeons are more forgiving than others. At a minimum this may earn you a nickname.

 

[Ashers]

ah crap. I'm on a diuretic and I also get hypoglycemic really fast cuz I'm tall and really need the fuel to run the machine ya know? Damn, I'll probably be the guy who faints during operations. I'm looking forward to surg rotation less and less now.
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I nearly fainted at least once a surgical rotation or while shadowing.

M1 year: didn't eat breakfast before surg -- bad idea
OB/gyn: vag hyst -- I put way too much effort while retracting the attending kept telling me to pull harder, the 2nd one I went into, different attending told me not to use all my strength since being 2nd assist was a crappy job.
Ortho: small breakfast, late surgery, standing still not contracting calves
Gen surg: locked my knees

I have an amazing amount of snack bars in my white coat pockets/back pack. If I don't come near fainting, I'll get migraines, so I make sure to keep stuff handy, and I'd scarf down snack bars before long cases.