What if a surgeon broke a hand/finger/etc...?

[KingTutATL]

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I'm currently reading the book "Walk on Water" and I began to think, What would happen if a surgeon broke a finger, hand, or arm? Would many surgeons be able to operate with the other hand?

 

[MDgonnabe]

I'm currently reading the book "Walk on Water" and I began to think, What would happen if a surgeon broke a finger, hand, or arm? Would many surgeons be able to operate with the other hand?

one of the surgeons at a community hospital i was rotating through during my third year got severe diabetic neuropathy in both his hands and had to stop performing operations. he now teaches med students and residents full time at said hospital. very creative solution to a major problem, imo.

 

[Furrball2]

Once you start residency you can buy dissability insurance. So a surgeon can buy insurance to cover the loss of the ability to operate. So can all of the other branches of medicine.

 

[njbmd]

I'm currently reading the book "Walk on Water" and I began to think, What would happen if a surgeon broke a finger, hand, or arm? Would many surgeons be able to operate with the other hand?

Hi there,
One of my surgery professors at UVa went down in a plane crash several years ago. His hands were badly burned. He is one the greatest folks to operate with and he does vascular surgery and hemodialysis access. He has been able to adapt instruments for his use and is able to do some of the most intricate surgeries with far less than ten fingers.
njbmd 🙂

 

[blue2000]

There was an article back in the early to mid-eighties in a hand journal about surgeons with fewer than ten fingers. Turns out, there are more than a handful (sorry, terrible pun) and that their abilities to adapt were truly remarkable. Also, lots of studies have shown that functional outcomes after devastating injuries have as much to do with patient motivation than degree of initial impairment.

 

[sandg]

Lowly, rising M1 here...
The OP asked about a break probably refering to something temporary. In a case like this, how does a residency program handle your temporary inability to operate? What about other brief conditions like sickness? Thanks.

 

[supercut]

Doctors and surgeons are people. Bad things sometimes happen to people. You figure out ways to adapt accordingly

When I was interviewing for residency, at one of the places one of the residents had broken an arm in a car accident. The program shuffled the schedule around to put that resident in the ICU during most of his recovery.

Most programs have rotations where you don't operate much, at least during the first couple years.

Worst case scenario - you would sit out for a few months and then have to extend your residency for a few months.

I recall reading about a surgeon who lost a number of fingers to frostbite (maybe he was also the one trying to climb Evererst, but I dont' recall for sure). He had toes implanted on his hands and then re-learned how to operate.

A person's ability to overcome obstacles often depends more on mental attitude than on the acutal nature of the obstacle.

 

[tussy]

ONe of our surgeons had a fractured hand and had to be in a cast with K-wires thru his thumb for almost 3 months. He went on disability, saw a few patients in clinic and did some teaching. One of our residents had a bad injury (put her hand into a wood chipper) - her schedule was shuffled to have "non-operating" rotations for her recovery (pathology, radiology, ICU, medicine, etc.). Next year she needs more surgery so she's doing a research rotation and will have to extend her residency.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

I think as a surgical resident or attending it's very important to remember how important your hands are to your livelyhood. I'm an MS-4 but I can tell you there is no way I am getting my hands anywhere near a wood chipper or other similiar such tool. It's just not worth it.

 

[Dire Straits]

did i ever tell you guys about the time Dr. Bill Brasky broke both his arms wrestling an alligator during his lunch break only to come back to resume operating on the very same day?

 

[womansurg]

I suffered a comminuted pelvic fracture during my first year of practice and was nonambulatory for 2 months. As you can imagine, there aren't a lot of surgeries that you can do without standing. After four weeks I went back to doing sit down cases - specifically dialysis access. Naturally, I couldn't take any call.

My group just continued me on salary the whole time so I didn't have any financial hardship, other than having a smaller bonus that quarter due to my decreased productivity.

It's something you have to think about. Sort of like atheletes, we have to use our bodies to conduct our business and so are very vunerable to becoming disabled and unemployable in our field. Good disability insurance is a must.

 

[KingTutATL]

ONe of our surgeons had a fractured hand and had to be in a cast with K-wires thru his thumb for almost 3 months. He went on disability, saw a few patients in clinic and did some teaching. One of our residents had a bad injury (put her hand into a wood chipper) - her schedule was shuffled to have "non-operating" rotations for her recovery (pathology, radiology, ICU, medicine, etc.). Next year she needs more surgery so she's doing a research rotation and will have to extend her residency.

A wood chipper??? Thats a good way to lose your arm.

 

[Retinamark]

I'm reluctant to learn rollerblading for this exact reason. A friend told me of a surgeon who broke his scaphoid and got non-union, and wasn't able to operate for months. If that happens during your residency or fellowship, it would really put you behind. It could really mess things up.

Get disability insurance! It is not worth taking the risk. It's not that expensive.