Doing well in Trauma Surg sub-I

[Izlude_Tingel]

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Hi,
I was just writing to get some opinions on how to do well in Trauma Surg sub-I. I want to do EM so I'd figure I would post this here. My two rotations after Trauma is EM so I figure this would be good prep for the two key EM rotations. I do decent in surgery, not honors or anything, but enough to get the basic stuff. The problem is that I took surg sometime ago. I got Trauma secrets to read and got via most of it. I was just wondering what people suggest to do well. I really want to do well for this 1st fourth year rotation. Thx

 

[Hawkeye Kid]

Trauma (at least at MCW) is a very team-oriented service--very much unlike medicine where everyone has "their own" pts. On trauma, every pt "belongs" to everyone, so the more you know about each pt, the better. Also, there are *always* things going on--scheduled OR cases, floor work, consults, trauma calls, etc. Consequently, much of what you do depends on where you are when things need to be done. When an opportunity to do something presents itself, jump in (without being overly aggressive/stepping on other students, of course). Volunteer to do as much as you're comfortable doing, especially the crap that interns get beaten down with. And take advantage of the down time to ask intelligent questions about what's going on (mgmt decisions, different presentations of the same thing, etc). This kind of stuff gets noticed and when the time comes to do something cool, it will often be rewarded.

As far as actual trauma calls go, you may get thrown into the fire, so be ready. Remember the ABC's. As a student, if all you do is an organized, thorough primary survey you're doing well. Remember that nothing else happens until the ABCs (in that order) are stabilized--don't get distracted by the other things going on that are interesting but not life-threatening. This sounds easy, but the first time you see a nasty knee degloving you'll really really want to stare at it. Unless it's bleeding profusely, it's not gonna kill the pt anytime soon. But, their unstable airway, PTX, shock, etc. will. Stay calm and realize when you don't know what to do--then ask for help.

My trauma rotation was by far the best month of my third year. Work hard, be a team player, and make it known that you're interested in doing whatever you can to help the team (including any cool procedures that they'll throw your way). Good luck and have fun.

 

[tonem]

ABC's of trauma for medical students

A - finger in the Anus
B - foley in the Bladder
C - go stand in the Corner

Thats what we used to say back when I was a 3rd year.