I am out in Richmond, MO which is about 65 miles from our house, so that adds on an extra 2 1/2 hours to my day with the drive time. I've been getting up at 5:00 am to be at the hospital for 7:30. We have three different hospitals that we work at, and the surgeon is the only general surgeon for all three hospitals. That means he is on call 24/7! We start at 7:30 am and finish around 6:30 pm which means I don't get home until close to 8. I feel like I've been neglecting Eric a bit this month, but he is so understanding which is great.
The surgeries I have seen include a ton of gallbadders, hernias, hemorrhoids, breast biopsies, lumpectomies, mastectomies, and a ton of skin lesions/cysts. From day one, the surgeon had me making 2 of the 4 gallbladder incisions. The first day he let me try to close up my one little incision in the time he closed his 3. Lets just say I wasn't close to finishing in the time he closed up all 3 haha. By the third surgery, I had it down. When we do the mastectomies for breast cancer we split the incision in half and race to see who finishes closing first. After a week and a half, he started to just walk out of the OR and leave me in there to close all by myself. In the clinic I have shaved off some skin lesions all by myself and even placed the stitches. :) The patients have even commented that I've done a great job!
I am very lucky to have received such a great preceptor. He is very patient with me and makes comments such as don't worry you have all month to learn. There is a possibility of surgery as a career choice, but I'm not sure if I could handle the hours. Also, I'm not sure if my body can handle standing for so long. My knees have been killing me when I get home and they get swollen as the day goes on. Hoping to get some good shoes for Christmas, so that might make a difference. I am enjoying things and still can't believe I'm so close to being a doctor.
Next month is my elective in Child Psychiatry.
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