Orthopedic Surgery @ DMC

As a famous orthopedic surgeon once said, "If you can't pin it or cast it- then screw it." Just finished ortho surg, and I have to say that I had a tremendous amount of fun. If you are assigned to Dr. Welborn, you not only get to see him in action, but the other surgeons at DMC also reach out to you, teach you surgery, knots, and have you first assist on cases. During the course of this rotation I experienced several awesome things, a few of which I'll mention here:

1. First assisting Dr. Lyon during an ORIF of the femur in a space suit X2. Really a sterilization technique that is expensive and more for protection of the surgeon than the patient, but fun to do. On those cases, Dr. Lyon had me create the spaces for the screws and screw in the plate. He taught me the two-handed knot and I am finally good enough at it to help the surgeon close up without taking too much time.

2. First assisting Dr. Barry with a rodding of the femur in a diabetic patient. This was extremely nerve wracking for me, but mostly for Dr. Barry and the OR staff. Luckily their competence and care for the patient always prevails. I think I was exposed to more than a minute of X-rays during that surgery unfortunately but I was wearing a lead suit so I hope that helped.

3. Working with the lovely OR staff @ DMC! So hilarious, laid back, but of course strict about sterilization procedures, etc. What a fun-loving environment. Only one thing though- if you have seen this in my facebook status I'm sorry to repeat it here, but if I had to listen to "Like a G6" one more time while I was trying to concentrate on assisting, I would have had to personally go out and steal one for the anesthesiologist so he would stop playing the song. And I am not even sure if having one would make him stop playing that song. Geez.

Overall, I learned tons from the orthopods I shadowed, I enjoyed spending time with patients at clinic, and I'm super happy that I get to experience several other rotations at DMC. It feels great to have such a short commute and to be able to rotate in an environment that is so conducive to learning.

And of course, I didn't want to leave out my favorite jokes about orthopedic surgeons (and no one loves these jokes more than the surgeons themselves):

What do you call 2 orthopedic doctors reading an EKG?
A double blind study!

Patient: Doctor, Doctor, I broke my arm in two places!
Doctor: Stay out of those places!

Q. What is the difference between God and an orthopedic surgeon
A. God doesn’t think he is an orthopedic surgeon.

I know, how lame! I guess when you're mentally and physically exhausted, and slightly delirious, these jokes can make you crack up for minutes. Or maybe that's just me? :)

Actually I am no where near as exhausted as was when I had my peds and OB/Gyn rotations, but every rotation has been different, fun, and incredibly rewarding thus far. Tomorrow I start my 2wk cardiology rotation @ DMC and I'll finish up January with a PM&R rotation in SF City.

This year is going to be exciting and challenging. I have a number of personal goals regarding my health and fitness that I have been working on and hope to make more progress in the coming months. I also have Step 2 of my boards, audition rotations, residency applications, interviews, and a wedding to plan! Here's to a healthy, smooth, and productive 2011!