jstargirl17
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- Jun 25, 2023
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Hello,
I’m a third year medical student and I just finished my 4-week general surgery rotation. I’m now about to start a 2-week surgery elective with a Head & Neck plastic reconstructive surgeon.
I start my OB/GYN rotation in a couple of weeks and I’m both excited and nervous. I’m excited since I’ve never seen a live childbirth, am interesting in learning what a C-section entails, and learning more about women’s health in the clinic and getting more comfortable about performing pelvic exams and Pap smears.
I’m nervous because of the surgical aspect (GYN surg). On my general surgery rotation, while I didn’t hate the OR, I also didn’t love it. Towards the end I felt that I was starting to get more comfortable with being in the OR (though my arms still hurt from retracting lol)
Mainly because the hours were long days and it was just back to back to back cases of surgeries (mainly just hernia repairs, some laparoscopic cholecystectomies, one appendectomy, a couple of open colostomy reversals). In the OR I would mainly either hold the camera for a laparoscopic procedure, cut when the attending surgeon and resident were suturing, or close port sites at the end.
I guess what makes me nervous about GYN surg is my arms getting tired from holding the laparoscopic instruments or me doing losing focus/interest looking at the camera screen…
On my general surgery rotation, the attending wanted me to hold the uterus up and my other hand was holding the camera. The instrument used to hold organs up/move things around was way heavier/harder than I thought it would be… now it makes me doubt if I have what it takes to to do GYN surg (I’ve watched a few graphic medical education videos on C-section, hysterectomy, myomectomy)
I guess my question is what are some things I should be thinking about when I’m on my GYN Surg rotation?
When I think about what the surgeon does, I wonder how the surgeon is able to maintain focus looking at the screen for hours? For GYN, I heard that hysterectomies can take the longest
I wonder how the surgeon can hold the laparoscopic instruments without getting tired for long periods of time or do robotic surgery… I get that it takes years of training but I sometimes wonder if I have what it takes.. or will I be struggling and be miserable?
Also I understand that surgery is serious and that it shouldn’t be rushed. But at times during my gen surgery rotation I would be tired and sometimes want the surgery to be over/be looking at the click (but then I would hear the attending and OR staff say these long surgeries were awful or terrible…)
Also any general tips for my OB/GYN rotation are welcome 🙂
I’m a third year medical student and I just finished my 4-week general surgery rotation. I’m now about to start a 2-week surgery elective with a Head & Neck plastic reconstructive surgeon.
I start my OB/GYN rotation in a couple of weeks and I’m both excited and nervous. I’m excited since I’ve never seen a live childbirth, am interesting in learning what a C-section entails, and learning more about women’s health in the clinic and getting more comfortable about performing pelvic exams and Pap smears.
I’m nervous because of the surgical aspect (GYN surg). On my general surgery rotation, while I didn’t hate the OR, I also didn’t love it. Towards the end I felt that I was starting to get more comfortable with being in the OR (though my arms still hurt from retracting lol)
Mainly because the hours were long days and it was just back to back to back cases of surgeries (mainly just hernia repairs, some laparoscopic cholecystectomies, one appendectomy, a couple of open colostomy reversals). In the OR I would mainly either hold the camera for a laparoscopic procedure, cut when the attending surgeon and resident were suturing, or close port sites at the end.
I guess what makes me nervous about GYN surg is my arms getting tired from holding the laparoscopic instruments or me doing losing focus/interest looking at the camera screen…
On my general surgery rotation, the attending wanted me to hold the uterus up and my other hand was holding the camera. The instrument used to hold organs up/move things around was way heavier/harder than I thought it would be… now it makes me doubt if I have what it takes to to do GYN surg (I’ve watched a few graphic medical education videos on C-section, hysterectomy, myomectomy)
I guess my question is what are some things I should be thinking about when I’m on my GYN Surg rotation?
When I think about what the surgeon does, I wonder how the surgeon is able to maintain focus looking at the screen for hours? For GYN, I heard that hysterectomies can take the longest
I wonder how the surgeon can hold the laparoscopic instruments without getting tired for long periods of time or do robotic surgery… I get that it takes years of training but I sometimes wonder if I have what it takes.. or will I be struggling and be miserable?
Also I understand that surgery is serious and that it shouldn’t be rushed. But at times during my gen surgery rotation I would be tired and sometimes want the surgery to be over/be looking at the click (but then I would hear the attending and OR staff say these long surgeries were awful or terrible…)
Also any general tips for my OB/GYN rotation are welcome 🙂
