Once in a lifetime experience

Today I officially had my first OPEN surgery. It was a cholecystecomy, bowel removal, removal of a fistula, and bladder repair. All in one patient. A cholecystecomy is a procedure where you remove the gallbladder, in this case it was due to gallstones. The bowel removal was done because this patient has bad diverticulitis which is a condition that causes outpouching of the bowel. In this case the outpouching in the bowel caused a tract from the bowel to the bladder (a fistula). The first part of the procedure was another laparoscopy, the second part however was an open procedure. I actually put my hand in someones abdomen today and ran the bowel. It was really neat! The surgery took like 6 hours and by the end my feet, knees, and back were hurting but it was totally worth it.

Rotation#6: Surgery

On Monday I began my surgery rotation. This rotation is definitely different from the rest. You never realize how much you appreciate sleep until you have this rotation. While my days are not jam packed with patients like in OB, some of the surgeries can be long. I see about 3 surgeries a day. I have seen a gastric bypass surgery, hernia repair, and a port a cath placement (a port used to place medications especially for oncology/hematology patients). Many of the procedures are done using laproscopic surgery. For those that are unaware, laproscopic surgery uses small incisions with the aid of a camera in order to perform surgery. Unfortunately, since I am a student so I am on the low end of the totem pole. This means that I don’t get to do much during a surgery. Thus far I have been able to suture, place catheters, and hold the laproscope. I am loving the experience of scrubbing into a surgery, wearing a surgical gown, mask, and sterile gloves. I am thankful for having the opportunity; however, I can tell I don’t want to go into surgery in the future.

4 more months until graduation!!!

Life in the OB-GYN Lane

4 weeks in this rotation have gone by in the blink of an eye. At my specific site, I am not doing deliveries, so I have more gyn exposure. My doc does take pregnant patients and she follows them up until the point of delivery. In this office I have really gotten do to a lot. I have done paps, lots of bloodwork, fetal heart tones, and helped assist in surgeries. My doc does hyseroscopies, colposcopies, and LEEPs in her office.

My favorite part of this rotation is the pregnant patients. I love seeing the parents’ faces when they hear the babies heart beat for the first time. I also like seeing the new moms change from week to week. Pregnancy seems like an exciting and tiring process at the same time.

This rotation moves very quickly due to the patient volume. I see about 35 patients a day and there is just one doctor. To some that may not seem like a lot but each initial OB visit is at least an hour long and new patients take about 30 minutes, so time adds up. That does not even include surgeries. To me this rotation is more stressful than the ER because of the pace. After coming from the ER, however, it is no sweat. In the ER there was some waiting time when all the tests have been ordered but the results have not come back. At this rotation, I hardly ever get a lunch, I may sneak off for a few minute to grab something and go. At this point I am used to it and for the most part I am not even hungry anymore during lunch. While being at work is not tiring I crash when I get home. It is also very hard to wake up in the mornings.

What makes this rotation unique is that OB-GYN is a very personal process. In other rotations it was as well, but this rotation in particular is more so. People are very private about their personal lives especially their gyn history, they will only tell their Dr this information. Also gyn exams can be a scary thing for some patients. My Dr also acts as a primary care doctor. She keeps her patients in line with their weight, makes sure patients are maintaining important medications, helps with depression/anxiety, and even goes over treatment of osteoporosis and osteopenia. She does it all. What I also enjoy is that she likes to teach me. With rotation 5 almost over and rotation number 6 (surgery) on the way, I officially have 4 months and 18 days until graduation!