What's the coolest thing you've done so far?

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I know not everyone is a fan of cadaver lab, but I am. It's really incredible to know that your cadaver was once a living, breathing human who had family and friends, and dreams and fears. It sounds cheesy but I'm so honored that someone was willing to donate their body so that my classmates and I could learn. I'm only an M1 so I'm sure I'll see much cooler things, but this thought hits me every time I'm in the lab.
 
Cut off mesentery with harmonic shears during a bowel resection, currently MS3.
 
Localnative said:
M3 - manually disimpacted an elderly guy with an 8 inch fecal ball, general care floor while on Gen Surg
It was a very special moment, the memory of which I will take to the grave.
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I feel like when it's that big you should swaddle it, name it and hand it back to the guy.

On topic I did nothing cool for my first three years, then fourth year I got to do some intubations and central lines during some electives. It wasn't cool so much as fun to actually get to do something.
 
M1 here, placed a chest tube in a "high fidelity model" (really just pork ribs wrapped around a pressurized frame with lung-like material inside--the resident said it felt the same as real life tho). I also think it's cool getting vitals, interviewing patients and presenting them to an attending physician, probably cause it's still so new to me. I'm looking forward to doing more procedural things in 3rd and 4th year
 
From first 2 years: One of the cadavers in our lab died from a massive ischemic stroke and the embalming fluid didn't get into the brain. When they got to the head, the professor had to come over with a bunch of biohazard gear and dissect the head himself. The brian was basically just a ball of goo and it was more like watching an actual autopsy than working on a cadaver. Pretty cool to see the actual pathology you read about.

Overall: Was first assist for a c-section and got to deliver the baby. We had seen the woman a few times in clinic before that and it was really cool to care for her then deliver her baby. It was a pretty amazing experience overall, and being able to actually play a significant role in the procedure was a huge highlight of the rotation for me. Another one was just some of the patients I saw during inpatient psych. Not that I really did much other than interview them and recommend treatment plans, but some of the pathology we saw was just so strange I couldn't even make it up if I tried.
 
M3: Did so many cool things on my plastics rotation! Got to touch a brain during a cranialization on a guy who was kicked in the face by a horse. Also got to operate the drill on a percutaneous pinning of a metacarpal fracture.

I also personally love doing I&Ds. So satisfying when the pus starts flowing.
 
MS3 on surg with neurosurg attending and getting to use the suction to evacuate part of an epidural hematoma on a patient about my age.

After that, probably Psych.
 
One of the cadavers that I got to work on in anatomy lab during first year had been one of the more "memorable" patients that I had taken care of while working as a med/surg aide 4-5 years prior to med school. Seeing the physical effects of alcohol "abuse" in a living individual, and then seeing what that does to a body leaves a pretty powerful image.
 
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In M4 at the end of my Pathology rotation they let me do a majority of an autopsy myself. From the Y-incision to evisceration and individual organ dissection.

Honestly I'm still on the fence on whether that rotation was mildly scarring or just psychologically weighty -- either way, it was pretty damn cool.
 
Currently M4 applying to General Surgery, waiting for that Match Day...

As an M3 on my neurosurgery rotation: the last week of my 4 week rotation was insane, got to do a subdural evacuation from beginning to end (including the craniectomy) with my chief just standing there and telling me what to do next if I was stuck. Also got to drop 5 or 6 bedside EVDs in the Neuro ICU with the same chief just watching so I don't mess up.

As a M4 on my cardiothoracic sub-I: about 10-15 median sternotomies (using that drill is nuts!), multiple 1st assists on CABGs, cannulations, and pretty much all sternotomy closures that month on CT.

M4 on transplant: about 5-6 liver procurements as 1st assist with the fellow in the middle of the night. All the bilateral subcostal closures for the Whipples (since we didn't have an intern that month on transplant).

Currently on SICU as an M4: the interns and our PGY-2 have all met their numbers so any A-line that comes in is mine, and most of the central lines; and tons of little procedures here and there.
 
As an M3 I did an above-knee amputation skin to skin. That was pretty neat. I also did a chest tube on tension pneumothorax as an M4, and popping into the pleura and hearing that "PSSSHHHHH" was incredibly satisfying.

In residency, we do plenty of crazy **** on ENT. Our service usually does the fun transfacial part of skull base resections @neusu mentioned, but those are pretty rare since we have an aggressive endoscopic skull base surgeon who will do pretty much anything endoscopically.

Personally, my favorite case was a radical maxillectomy last month (orbital extenteration, total maxillectomy, external ethmoidectomy and sphenoidotomy) with a really tough neck dissection (retropharyngeal nodes). I also enjoy robotic surgery a ton.
 
pikapp84 said:
Currently M4 applying to General Surgery, waiting for that Match Day...

As an M3 on my neurosurgery rotation: the last week of my 4 week rotation was insane, got to do a subdural evacuation from beginning to end (including the craniectomy) with my chief just standing there and telling me what to do next if I was stuck. Also got to drop 5 or 6 bedside EVDs in the Neuro ICU with the same chief just watching so I don't mess up.

As a M4 on my cardiothoracic sub-I: about 10-15 median sternotomies (using that drill is nuts!), multiple 1st assists on CABGs, cannulations, and pretty much all sternotomy closures that month on CT.

M4 on transplant: about 5-6 liver procurements as 1st assist with the fellow in the middle of the night. All the bilateral subcostal closures for the Whipples (since we didn't have an intern that month on transplant).

Currently on SICU as an M4: the interns and our PGY-2 have all met their numbers so any A-line that comes in is mine, and most of the central lines; and tons of little procedures here and there.
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this is awesome what school is this
 
Got to be first assist on an Ivor Lewis Esophagectomy amazing experience and i was also extremely happy that the surgeon trusted me enough to assist on such a big surgery.
 
Chest tube insertion under supervision as a ms3 in ICU for pneumo from ruptured apical bleb. Will never forget it.


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While volunteering on a ambulance we got a cab driver who was had a pulmonary embolism. We rushed him to the ER while aspirating and preparing him for the hospital (mount line , take vitals , etc.) , we got there in about 3 minutes and as we go in the critical case ER unit to drop him off he goes into cardiac arrest , after about 10 minutes of code I took my turn doing chest compression since the ER was full and there were only two people beside me and my fellow paramedic that were available , being quite big and a regular gym goer I was doing a good job on this guy (he was obese so that makes it quite hard to do a proper compression) , he came back under my compressions and I felt awesome. Afterwards the chief nurse told me (good job you saved his life).

Still feels good to this day even tough I've done compressions on a lot more patients.

Oh and the first brain surgery I've observed was also pretty fraking cool. Seeing a live brain always seems surreal.
 
Did a colonoscopy with attending guidance, first assist for first 3 hours of 12 hr spine surgery M2.
 
VisionaryTics said:
As an M3 I did an above-knee amputation skin to skin. That was pretty neat. I also did a chest tube on tension pneumothorax as an M4, and popping into the pleura and hearing that "PSSSHHHHH" was incredibly satisfying.

In residency, we do plenty of crazy **** on ENT. Our service usually does the fun transfacial part of skull base resections @neusu mentioned, but those are pretty rare since we have an aggressive endoscopic skull base surgeon who will do pretty much anything endoscopically.

Personally, my favorite case was a radical maxillectomy last month (orbital extenteration, total maxillectomy, external ethmoidectomy and sphenoidotomy) with a really tough neck dissection (retropharyngeal nodes). I also enjoy robotic surgery a ton.
Click to expand...

That sounds horrible. Did y'all need a free tissue transfer to obliterate all that dead space?
 
MediCane2006 said:
That sounds horrible. Did y'all need a free tissue transfer to obliterate all that dead space?
Click to expand...

Yep, ALT. Skin paddle for palate.

Tumor was coming through anterior maxillary wall, so we took SMAS around there, but were able to preserve skin and eyelid/orbicularis oculi. Tarsorrhaphy, and he'll never get an orbital prosthesis, but it actually looks OK, and he can talk and swallow fine.
 
VisionaryTics said:
Yep, ALT. Skin paddle for palate.

Tumor was coming through anterior maxillary wall, so we took SMAS around there, but were able to preserve skin and eyelid/orbicularis oculi. Tarsorrhaphy, and he'll never get an orbital prosthesis, but it actually looks OK, and he can talk and swallow fine.
Click to expand...
slick....
 
Delivered a baby vaginally and also pulled out a baby during c-section - M3
Also orbitofrontozygomatic craniectomy with partial temporal lobectomy for tumor resection
 
1st assist left hemicolectomy with APR. Not an everyday surgery.

Also had the chief of OBGYN hand me the forceps and sutures after c section and closed uterus, fascia and subQ.

Oh and CPR on my patient in IM.

Also got to be the first to check the function of a penile implant in the OR. Sometimes it's nice to get immediate results
 
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