Spoiled Rotten

I realized as I was stitching up a lady's uterus today that I have been just downright spoiled in the operating room (OR) this year. Downright spoiled. I am going to need this year off just to come back to reality. This rotation in rural surgery has been unbelievably hands on - first-assisting on colectomies, hysterectomies, and gallbladders; sewing skin, fascia, and uteri; and scalpel-ing incisions, lipomas, and basal cell carcinomas. "See one, do one, teach one" is almost spot on. Third year in Asheville was similar. Day #1 we were expected to hop in and first-assist. The more and more I talk to my compatriots back at THE BIG HOUSE, I realize how lucky we are for these opportunities. It sounds like there was a lot of standing and watching.

So over the next year it's time to put my feet back on solid ground again. You are a medical student, Robert, not a surgical intern. Thus, I must set my expectations lower in the OR (and be ready for a lot more pimping). It's just hard when at eighteen you were learning to sew and certifying as a laparoscopic camera kid (LCK, it's official)... downright spoiled!

I'm mainly writing this post so I can remind myself later how much it meant to me to have these experiences. At some point, I see myself teaching, and it's easy to get caught up in what has been mundane over the years. To the medical student though, nothing is ordinary. Every suture, every staple, every SteriStrip is worth it. So, hey, Dr. Swendiman of the future, let the med students get their mitts in there! It will make their day.

I may be repeating myself this ad nauseum, but I am finding again and again that choosing to spend the year in Asheville was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Minus all the good early years of my life (eat, sleep, poop, play), third year of medical school was the best year of my life to date. I can say that with confidence. It was unparalleled professionally, academically, ethically, and culinarily (is that a word?). I missed my best friends, and my living situation was horrible, but hey, there has to be room for improvement. This training set me up for the Dubin Fellowship, and connected me with the research I will do this fall (check back later for more detes). And finishing up with this rotation in Linville certainly caps off the year.

I'm leaving Asheville with a smile on my face from ear to ear.

Now, sticking to the theme of August, here's the Quote of the Week:

“The moral test of government is how it treats people in the dawn of life, the children, in the twilight of life, the aged, and in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.”

If you haven't read Donald Berwick's (a real MD/MPP!) address to the Harvard Medical School's graduating class of 2012, entitled To Isaiah, it is a must read. This quote is from that speech. You can find it online and on PubMed.