Can I ask for suture practice supplies?

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DylanAsdale

DylanAsdale

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I'm not sure if we're allowed to ask for things like this on the forums here, but I was just curious if anyone would send me one cheap pair of needle drivers, and some opened but unused sutures. They don't need to be unopened and sterile and whatnot, I just want to practice my suture technique.

If asking for something like that isn't allowed here, could you guys recommend the closest best thing to practice with?

Right now I'm using kelley forceps and dental floss, and just practicing on a clipboard clamp loop. I tried to practice on a banana, but when I made a makeshift suturing needle, it macerated the banana.

I've heard of people using all sorts of things. Would pig's feet be a good thing to practice on?

I'm getting ready to head to a surgical tech program, so I definitely want to be fully prepared.

Thanks in advance!
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When you get to your program, you will be furnished with equipment to use and practice on/with. Furthermore, you likely do not know how to use proper technique since you haven't been trained and thus,you are likely teaching yourself techniques that are wrong. You can also order equipment from a surgical supply house. Do a Google search and pay them. Under no circumstances would I take equipment or supplies from any of my hospitals.clincis to send to an anonymous user on a message board.
 
njbmd said:
Furthermore, you likely do not know how to use proper technique since you haven't been trained and thus,you are likely teaching yourself techniques that are wrong. .
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If you're a premed focus on the MCAT and gettting into medical school. Not on throwing knots and suturing. There is a long way to go between undergrad and intern year. Also, playing MacGuyver with a needle and a banana are going to get you placed on someone's "they're a bit strange" list.
 
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njbmd said:
Under no circumstances would I take equipment or supplies from any of my hospitals.clincis to send to an anonymous user on a message board.
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Such an antagonistic way of putting it.

What ARE you going to do with the expired sutures, then? Just throw them away? Seems like quite a waste.
 
DylanAsdale said:
Such an antagonistic way of putting it.

What ARE you going to do with the expired sutures, then? Just throw them away? Seems like quite a waste.
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You give them to med students or interns to practice - people who are already in training and clearly need to learn the skill.
 
tkim said:
You give them to med students or interns to practice - people who are already in training and clearly need to learn the skill.
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Yikes... An intern who doesn't know how to suture?
 
DylanAsdale said:
Look at the quote below. The word was learn.
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...practice was used first. Look, you do like 3 months max of surgery during 3rd year and then maybe MAYBE another 3 months on average of actual surgery time during 4th year (months when you actually get into the OR - which is not to say that you always get to do anything). Interns are still perfecting their suturing and knot-tying technique. If you ever do go to medical school, you'll realize there's way more that goes into surgery than cutting and tying. In fact, most people will tell you that the actual "cutting" is stuff that anyone can learn. "Learning" is not a binary endeavor - its a slow progression to mastery.
 
LucidSplash said:
...practice was used first. Look, you do like 3 months max of surgery during 3rd year and then maybe MAYBE another 3 months on average of actual surgery time during 4th year (months when you actually get into the OR - which is not to say that you always get to do anything). Interns are still perfecting their suturing and knot-tying technique. If you ever do go to medical school, you'll realize there's way more that goes into surgery than cutting and tying. In fact, most people will tell you that the actual "cutting" is stuff that anyone can learn. "Learning" is not a binary endeavor - its a slow progression to mastery.
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Although under my avatar it says "pre-med", I'm still cloudy on my future in medicine. I'm currently considering surgical technology.

And it may sound childish, but I think suturing is fun.
 
DylanAsdale said:
Although under my avatar it says "pre-med", I'm still cloudy on my future in medicine. I'm currently considering surgical technology.

And it may sound childish, but I think suturing is fun.
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Hence the use of the word "if." Suturing IS fun for those of us that are novices. I'm not taking that away from you - even as a 4th year, I'm still thrilled when someone says "here, sew this nipple back on" or some-such to me in the OR. Hell, the day I got to use the scalpel, the bovi, AND the suture needle during a portacath insertion was still my favorite day of 3rd year - and if you ever get to this point medical training you'll realize that these things are NOT the most important parts of "learning to be a surgeon." My point was that your attempt at mocking interns for needing to learn/practice suturing was off-base and indicates a complete lack of understanding about medical training (which has been affirmed by other postings in this forum and others). To be blunt, I'm suggesting you take a step back and start to think a little before you post because pretty soon people are going to stop responding to you or taking you seriously and your endless questions will go unanswered because you're coming across as a self-important, immature, egotistical little brat. I'm not saying that's who you really are a person (though I'm not discounting it either) but I'm saying that's how you're presenting yourself. The people on this forum are intelligent, well-educated individuals and talking down to them or assuming a smarmy tone in your posts isn't going to get you anywhere fast. We were ALL precocious pre-pre-meds at some point, just like you. But we didn't get where we are now by being little snots.
 
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First as far as getting sutures, you could contact someone at a nearby med school (like the Dean's secretary) and ask how to get some expired sutures. (they might think this is a odd request though from someone not in med school yet). As far as a needle driver, I imagine a kelly would work, you could try the med school book store as ours had needle drivers for sale. kitchen sponges are what I used to actually suture on as well.

Second, yes medical students especially but even interns needed practice with suturing. Medicine is lifelong learning, it really never stops

Third, yes suturing is cool at first, but as you aren't even in medical school yet, it seems like a waste of time. Also I don't see how it would be useful in surg technology either. (could be wrong though on last statement)
 
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One step at a time. Trying to just "figure out" how to suture on your own right now will only encourage formation of bad habits. If you're truly interested, you need to have someone physically nearby to show you proper technique.
 
I didn't get "good" at suturing until 2nd year of ENT residency, i.e. meaning that I was reasonably quick and had decent technique. The key is learning good technique first and then work on your speed once you have the technique down. If you can sew fast with crappy technique, you're not doing yourself or the patient a favor.
 
A non-medical student asking for spare sutures to play with might sound a little weird. They might think you're doing something from the movie Saw in your basement. Just wait till you get to medical school there is so much more important stuff to learn than suturing.
 
umean2tellme said:
A non-medical student asking for spare sutures to play with might sound a little weird. They might think you're doing something from the movie Saw in your basement. Just wait till you get to medical school there is so much more important stuff to learn than suturing.
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IIRC, there was no suturing done in the entire Saw series, let alone the first movie. Makeshift neurosurgery was done in Saw 3, but that's of course hogwash.

I am simply fascinated in surgery, and practicing stuff like suturing is my idea of fun. Weird as that may sound, I'm just being honest =/
 
Dylan, compared to all the other things delinquent 17 yr olds might be doing, I think practicing suturing is completely harmless. It's good to have a passion. Watch the Youtube videos on tying knots and throwing the basic stitches. I wouldn't worry about something you're doing now corrupting any future surgical technique, should you end up a CST/PA/MD/DO, etc.
 
BlondeDocteur said:
Dylan, compared to all the other things delinquent 17 yr olds might be doing, I think practicing suturing is completely harmless. It's good to have a passion. Watch the Youtube videos on tying knots and throwing the basic stitches. I wouldn't worry about something you're doing now corrupting any future surgical technique, should you end up a CST/PA/MD/DO, etc.
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I turned 18 in September, but thank you for the encouragement 🙂 it's more than anyone else has given me.
 
Dylan, lets be honest here, you're a little odd.. what with the saw remark, and the correction of your d.o.b.
Throw knots on the downlow, buts lets get our feet wet with some undergrad courses in chem, bio, etc...
We were all overzealous at your stage of the game...keep the fire going, but crawl before you walk...
and keep it yo pro.

giggiddy
 
Wow. You are weird.

ioclonist.gif
 
dylan maybe you should look into something else other than surgical tech if you want to first assist. if you dont want to go to medical school why not look into PA? you could have much more involvement with patients than a surgical technologist would
 
Are surg techs even able to suture? While in the OR, I was told that they were not. Maybe it was just that hospital's policy though.

If you want some cheap suture material look on Amazon. There are reasonably priced minor surgical and practice suture kits.
 
I'm not a med student yet, but what I did to refine my suture skill was to go to a beauty supply store that sells hair extensions and stuff. Typically, at the front counter the will have "sew in thread" for hair. It will come with a spool of black thread, straight needle, semi-curved needle, and a curved needle and best of all it's only like $1. They are bigger than actual suture needles, but they are perfect for learning. That is how I learned and the curved needle is sharp enough to penetrate flesh if you are practicing on pigs feet. Good luck with your studies and let me know if this helped at all.😀
 
icabod said:
I'm not a med student yet, but what I did to refine my suture skill was to go to a beauty supply store that sells hair extensions and stuff. Typically, at the front counter the will have "sew in thread" for hair. It will come with a spool of black thread, straight needle, semi-curved needle, and a curved needle and best of all it's only like $1. They are bigger than actual suture needles, but they are perfect for learning. That is how I learned and the curved needle is sharp enough to penetrate flesh if you are practicing on pigs feet. Good luck with your studies and let me know if this helped at all.😀
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cat-wut.jpg
 
DylanAsdale said:
...What ARE you going to do with the expired sutures, then? Just throw them away? Seems like quite a waste.
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Yes, if there is not a QUALIFIED learner, throw them away. These supplies are not toys.
DylanAsdale said:
Yikes... An intern who doesn't know how to suture?
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A great deal of your comments throughout suggest a sense of grandeur, immaturity, and loads of ignorance. I would suggest and probably be backed by numerous fully trained surgeons that knowing how to suture and knowing how to tie surgical knots takes years in many hands. It is far more likely the case that interns and junior residents are still learning as opposed to actually "practicing".
southernIM said:
If you make it to that stage of medical training, you'll be amazed by how much you still have left to learn.
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Exactly!
DylanAsdale said:
Although under my avatar it says "pre-med", I'm still cloudy on my future in medicine. I'm currently considering surgical technology.

And it may sound childish, but I think suturing is fun.
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If it is a fun time of entertainment then order some stuff and have fun.... though, chances are you will hurt yourself technically in the long run.
Buzz Me said:
One step at a time. Trying to just "figure out" how to suture on your own right now will only encourage formation of bad habits. If you're truly interested, you need to have someone physically nearby to show you proper technique.
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Exactly.
icabod said:
I'm not a med student yet ...they are perfect for learning...
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You are not qualified to declare what is perfect for learning surgical technique!
 
LucidSplash said:
The fact that this thread has been needlessly risen from the dead (again) makes both me and baby Jesus cry.
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So, you "needlessly" must add an additional reply at each step and put yourself in line with baby Jesus?👎
 
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