My experience in the OR so far

Once I got past the physical demands of standing in place for hours on end, I quickly realized that spending time in the OR observing surgeries is my favorite part of the surgery clerkship. Depending on the day's OR schedule and whether there are any didactic sessions in the afternoon, I might see anywhere between 1 and 5 surgeries in a given day. So far, I've tried to give myself a wide variety of cases, which represent the vast majority of bread-and-butter general surgery. These include:

• Laparoscopic appendectomy
• Laparoscopic cholecystectomy
• Colectomy with end ileostomy
• Ileostomy takedown
• Direct inguinal hernia repair
• Femoral hernia repair
• Epigastric hernia repair
• Thyroidectomy
• Breast lumpectomy

I've also had the opportunity to stand in on some surgical sub-specialty cases: laser transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) with a urologist, vitrectomy with an ophthalmologist, biopsy of a posterior tongue mass with an otolaryngologist. I'm really grateful to have exposure to the surgical sub-specialties because I elected to do general surgery for all 8 weeks of this clerkship. I know that I don't want to be a urologist or otolaryngologist. I was fascinated by the eye surgery, though, and plan to observe more of them.


Here's a rough breakdown of what my OR time looks like:

50% - Standing quietly behind the attending or resident, trying to stay out of the way, and waiting to be pimped or rewarded for my good behavior with a gift from Above.
40% - Human retractor. Special features: Retracts 360 degrees along all three axes; Variable tension; Responds to verbal and tactile commands; Central processor allows for experience-based learning and adaptability.
5% - Sewing up laparoscopic port incisions or tying knots.
The remaining 5% - Split between driving the laparoscopic camera, electrocauterizing vessels, and other odd jobs.