Post by Betsy on Feb 15, 2006 23:22:28 GMT -5
This is a great rotation. Granted, alot of the stuff you will see won't be on the surgery shelf, but you get to see alot of cool surgeries like brain tumors, spinal cases, deep brain stimulation, epilepsy surgery, etc.
When you first get on the service, its somewhat intimidating. You will be working primarily with the residents, so get to know them and their style. The first week or so is rough to get acclimated, but it gets better.
Rounds are EARLY.
7am Mondays, 6:30am Tues-Thurs, and 7:30am Fridays. That means pre-rounds before then (I carried 4-5 floor patients at a time, and had to come in btw 5-5:30am). Make sure you know everything about the patient, because the cheif resident is pimp-a-licious. You don't carry any ICU patients, but you will still be pimped on them during rounds. Its good to know management of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and aneurysms, Glascow Coma Scale, etc.
After rounds, you will then go to the OR for the rest of the day (Mon-Thurs). One day of the week will be for outpatient clinic with one of the attendings, but it just depends on the week. Fridays is conference days, so lecture, grand rounds, etc from 8-2. Free lunch on Fridays.
OR, you get to scrub in on the cases, and help close (the amount you can help depends on the resident and attending present). Days are usually til around 6pm, but I sometimes didnt get done until later.
No call. You do have to come in and round on the patients on the weekends (I was with another student, so we just took 1 weekend day each).
Teaching.....it all depends on how proactive you are. Ask questions.
Downtime. Lots of downtime between OR cases. Some cases are extremely long (like the complicated brain tumors - i was in one that lasted 8hrs). If you want more downtime, pick shorter cases to go see.
Overall, its a good rotation, once you get into the groove. Its kind of intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it, I think you will enjoy it.
When you first get on the service, its somewhat intimidating. You will be working primarily with the residents, so get to know them and their style. The first week or so is rough to get acclimated, but it gets better.
Rounds are EARLY.
7am Mondays, 6:30am Tues-Thurs, and 7:30am Fridays. That means pre-rounds before then (I carried 4-5 floor patients at a time, and had to come in btw 5-5:30am). Make sure you know everything about the patient, because the cheif resident is pimp-a-licious. You don't carry any ICU patients, but you will still be pimped on them during rounds. Its good to know management of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and aneurysms, Glascow Coma Scale, etc. After rounds, you will then go to the OR for the rest of the day (Mon-Thurs). One day of the week will be for outpatient clinic with one of the attendings, but it just depends on the week. Fridays is conference days, so lecture, grand rounds, etc from 8-2. Free lunch on Fridays.
OR, you get to scrub in on the cases, and help close (the amount you can help depends on the resident and attending present). Days are usually til around 6pm, but I sometimes didnt get done until later.
No call. You do have to come in and round on the patients on the weekends (I was with another student, so we just took 1 weekend day each).
Teaching.....it all depends on how proactive you are. Ask questions.
Downtime. Lots of downtime between OR cases. Some cases are extremely long (like the complicated brain tumors - i was in one that lasted 8hrs). If you want more downtime, pick shorter cases to go see.
Overall, its a good rotation, once you get into the groove. Its kind of intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it, I think you will enjoy it.
