Surgical Rotation Is Super Chill. Is it a trap?

[Black Coffee 24/7]

So, it has been close to a week in a surgical rotation. I learn a crap ton. Residents and attending physicians are super nice and chill. I come to work everyday early with a smile, a good attitude, and an eagerness to learn. On my downtime, I would read up on Surgical Recall, Pestana, or UTD. Please note that I don’t get a lot of intentional down time. I’ve always seek to tag along with diff residents and attendings in order to observe, solidify my knowledge learned from OME, or get clinical pearls. However, there is some downtime between cases. On pimp questions, I sometimes don’t get the answers that they’re looking for, but my answers have always been right with accordance to their questions.

My OR etiquette is a mess, but I’m slowly improving. This has been the biggest challenge since I’m trying to learn to be helpful, but most of the times I’m just trying to get out of the way in order not to mess things up. I haven’t been yelled at. But, I feel so clumsy in the OR. Seeing diff cases is an awesome experience, but I want to be useful and not a hindrance to the team. My suturing skills suck major. I have no prior knowledge of OR etiquette. What can I do on my downtime to improve my usefulness in the OR and get something out of this rotation?

In summary, I really enjoy my rotation thus far. It has made me considered a field that I have ruled out in my preclinical years. However, is this a trap toward a mediocre or passing grade at the end of the rotation?

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[Moose A Moose]

You’re not being worked. Interested in surgery? Find a site where the students are kept for 12-14 hours a day. That’s the usual intern year (on a nice day).

 

[Black Coffee 24/7]

You’re not being worked. Interested in surgery? Find a site where the students are kept for 12-14 hours a day. That’s the usual intern year (on a nice day).

I work about 12 hrs a day. # of hrs isn’t the issue. The thing is that I hear so many horror stories about a surgical rotation. Yet, it has felt very relaxed so far.

 

[mistafab]

Hey bro!

Love your name BTW.

Nah dude, it isn’t a trap. Surgery can be really fun if you come in with the right attitude.

My biggest suggestion for improving your OR skills is to 1) practice knot tying with anything in your house. A small thread, a shoe string, anything. 2) Get a practice suture kit from your school, or get a suture set + suture removal kit from the hospital so you can practice your suture technique.

Otherwise, just keep doing what you’re doing. Sounds like people like you and things will be great as long as you work hard to get a good shelf score! Best of luck.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Not a trap. I had two different sites for my general surgery rotation (4 weeks each).

One was pretty chill, but I went to the OR plenty, learned a lot, and got to do a lot of things (like play with the Bovie and cauterize ****). The residents and attendings were pretty chill for the most part.

The other one sucked. Everyone seemed miserable and I got needle-stuck by an absent-minded surgery resident.

 

[operaman]

Probably not a trap. More likely some evidence that a surgical field is right for you. Good advice above on skills. If you’re working hard and improving each week, you’re headed for a solid grade.