mudphudder

As a medical student you never really know what people expect from you.  Do too little and you’re “lazy” and/or “disinterested.”  Do too much and you’re “arrogant,” “overbearing” and/or “not a team player.”  One aspect of surgery I’ve always loved is the well-defined roles for everyone.  In the O.R., each attending has a slightly different expectation from medical students; you just have to figure out what that expectation is.

I’ve had very few painful experiences in the O.R., but one sticks out in my mind very clearly.  It was a bowel and partial liver resection, and four people were scrubbed into the case: the attending, the fellow, the third year resident and me.  It turns out that this attending (who is an amazing guy and surgeon) expects medical students to be in charge of suctioning.  Unfortunately, I was told to stand away from the suction so it was not within my reach, with the resident standing between me and it.  I was dreading it, but inevitably, the attending said, “suction.”  He looked up at me and said it yet again.  Then, still looking at me, he repeated, “suction.”  What to do?  Option #1: Push the resident, who had his hands in the patient’s abdomen, aside and grab the suction, or Option #2: Stand there sheepishly saying, “Uh… uhhh…  I… I don’t… I don’t have the…  I can’t get to the…”  I went with Option #2.  Finally, the resident grabbed the suction, suctioned the abdomen and then placed it back where it had been: out of my reach.  Hmm… Again, what to do?  I was pondering this question when again I heard, “Suction…  Suction…  Suction…  I need suction here.”  Oh crud.  The resident grabbed the suction again, but this time gave it to me so I could suction.  Great: my problem was solved.  So, being the good medical student that I was, I stood there, vigilantly looking for an opportunity to suction, when the resident took the suction from my hand, used it and put it back where it had been before: out of my reach.  “Suction…  Suction…”  Oh.  No. 

Let me just say that this cartoonish back-and-forth went on for another 4 hours.  It was painful.  Every time that resident took the suction from me and put it away–out of my reach–was like getting punched in the gut.  I knew what was coming next. 

But it’s all good…just one of those days, I guess.  Didn’t change the fact that for my money, it just doesn’t get any better than a good day in the O.R. with a good team.  After the case, I was sitting in the SICU with the resident when the fellow–who is now a good friend of mine–walked in, saw me and started laughing his head off. 

We all did.

January 2nd, 2009 | Tags: surgery | Category: md / medical student stuff, personal | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL