- Joined
- Mar 21, 2016
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How's this for a horrible secret: Hi, my name is Dr. Lamberti, and I'm a surgery intern who doesn't know how to suture.
I am becoming worried that I'm truly not teachable with respect to technical skills. I practice a lot (as of this week, I've started practicing daily.) But it takes me multiple tries to position the needle correctly for each bite, my needle driver is always popping open (either that or I can't open it), and the needle is constantly rotating within the grasp of the needle driver. This makes it impossible for me to control my placement as well as where the needle exits. Even when I do manage to throw a few running sub cuticular stitches in a row, the edges are usually approximated in a very jagged fashion, because I can't seem to manipulate the tissue with the pickups in a way to avoid this.
Part of the problem is that my suture kit has a bunch of 2.0 PDS and the teeniest needle driver in history. But honestly, most of the problem....is me.
I obviously can't talk to anyone in my program about this, so I was thinking of putting up a Craig's list shingles to see if some retired suture tech or something would want to make a few bucks and give me lessons. The other part of the problem is that I surely won't be able to produce results when someone is yelling in my face in the OR, if I can't even do it in the privacy of my own living room.
Thoughts? Experiences from those who struggled technically? If I truly can't do it, I'd rather find out now than chief year... Is this ever a deal-breaker? I think I'm developing a bit of a mental block about it: the more I struggle and agonize, the harder it becomes.
I am becoming worried that I'm truly not teachable with respect to technical skills. I practice a lot (as of this week, I've started practicing daily.) But it takes me multiple tries to position the needle correctly for each bite, my needle driver is always popping open (either that or I can't open it), and the needle is constantly rotating within the grasp of the needle driver. This makes it impossible for me to control my placement as well as where the needle exits. Even when I do manage to throw a few running sub cuticular stitches in a row, the edges are usually approximated in a very jagged fashion, because I can't seem to manipulate the tissue with the pickups in a way to avoid this.
Part of the problem is that my suture kit has a bunch of 2.0 PDS and the teeniest needle driver in history. But honestly, most of the problem....is me.
I obviously can't talk to anyone in my program about this, so I was thinking of putting up a Craig's list shingles to see if some retired suture tech or something would want to make a few bucks and give me lessons. The other part of the problem is that I surely won't be able to produce results when someone is yelling in my face in the OR, if I can't even do it in the privacy of my own living room.
Thoughts? Experiences from those who struggled technically? If I truly can't do it, I'd rather find out now than chief year... Is this ever a deal-breaker? I think I'm developing a bit of a mental block about it: the more I struggle and agonize, the harder it becomes.
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