First week down.

surgery rotation: 1 week down, 5 to go. i still feel rather dumb, rather useless, and rather helpless, but i have a good attitude (can't you tell?). like the puppy who keeps coming back when he's kicked just because he doesn't know where else to go- i'm smiling and saying, "oh thank you for correcting me on that point- i was wondering how it was possible i had gone a whole 7 minutes without being wrong." they're letting me do more and more and i'm actually eager to try some things on my own. the surgeons haven't been the stereotypical ass-clowns that we hear about, but rather informative, friendly and generous. everyone in the room knows it's their job to stroke their egos, of course, but that's kind of true for all MD's, as far as i've seen in my professional and academic experience.

i have been involved in some really neat things now. all my preceptors keep apologizing that all i'm getting is "boring" general surgery stuff, but to me, since it's all new, i'm fascinated by it all. the things they can do w/ a camera are astounding (laparoscopic). they are actually throwing stitches internally only guided by the images they're able to see on the monitor over the table. unbelievable. i held a gall bladder w/ the clamps all laparoscopically and i couldn't believe how hard it was to manipulate them like that, and these geniuses are sewing in there! incredible.

so while i don't want to go under the knife myself since i now know how the tissue is twisted, bent, drilled through, burnt, and manipulated to accomplish what is needed during a procedure, i am feeling very pro-medicine right now and in awe of all we can do for people. for comfort, for diagnosis, for prevention, and then of course, for cosmetics. i haven't seen any tummy tucks or boob jobs yet (i will), but i did get to close an areola (the pepperoni under the nipple) where they had taken out a fatty lump directly under a nipple (gynecomastia). pretty cool. the little smiley faced scar on that patient's boob is because of me. alright.

anyway....my classmates all seem to be doing really well on their rotations. they're scattered in different disciplines and so we're all seeing/doing very different things, but for the most part experiences have been good. some are feeling out of their realm like i am, and some have crappy, angry, bitter preceptors, which sucks, but so far everyone is afloat. have i mentioned how much i love my people yet? these classmates of mine have quickly over the last year become some of my favorite people and i love how much support we provide each other. just a quick shout out to them.

more soon....