Reflecting on My Clerkship Experience: General Surgery

From the AAMC Careers in Medicine Clinical Evaluation

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1. Name and Location of Clinical Rotation: Pediatric Surgery, Riley Children's Hospital

2. What did I like most about this specialty?
- The pediatric patient population
- The variety of general surgery; they operate anywhere from the neck down just about...

3. What did I like least about this specialty?

- The hours. We were in at 4:30AM to round at 5:30 and usually stayed until 4:45PM. The residents usually would stay later than that because they had more work to do.

4. Did this clinical rotation give me a good sense of what practice in this specialty would be like?
Yes, I think I got a good feel of not only the variety of general surgery within the OR, but I also got to experience a number of clinics - both general surgery and multi-disciplinary. Surgery is involved in a lot more primary care than I previously imagined.

5. Did my interests, values, skills and/or personality "fit" with this specialty? If yes, in what way did they "fit"? If no, why might they not be compatible?
I think that this was a great experience for me because I realized that I do have an interest in doing something surgical, but I do not think I am interested in a career of majority surgery. I also felt like my personality wasn't really a good fit for the surgery life - where you have to be extremely assertive and very thick-skinned. Both of which I could be, but I think I am high-strung enough where an enviroment like that would not be a good one for me.

6. What are the possible practice settings for specialists in this field? Which of these settings interest me and do I know enough about them?
General surgeons practice in both community and academic settings. I think I would like an academic setting the best because I enjoy teaching and working with multidisciplinary teams.

7. What information do I still need to find out about this specialty? None

8. Has my perception of this specialty changed based on my clinical rotation experience?
Yes! I did not think I would enjoy my surgery rotation as much as I did. I learned so much!

9. Did my clinical rotation experience influence the likelihood of choosing a career in this specialty? If yes, how did it influence me?
I do not think I will be pursuing a career in general surgery, but I would like to have some surgical/procedural aspects to the field I choose to go in. Maybe OB?

10. Right now, on a scale of 1-10, how interested am I in this specialty as a career option? 5; even though I had a lot of fun on general surgery, I think that I would enjoy a field with more balance between OR and clinic with a longterm patient relationship focus... 

11. Other comments or reflections about this rotation or specialty:

• I really liked the procedures on general surgery more than ENT. I think mainly because it was a bigger working area and the anatomy is so clear
• Even though there was a ton of variety on pediatric surgery, I have heard that adult general surgery is mainly in the abdomen - think stomach, gall bladder, appendix, intestines, colon....
• Knowing when a patient had a bowel movement is VERY important...I might go as far as to say it's as important as the vital signs...haha
• During my last week on service, I was in two really big cases (a Wilms tumor and a neuroblastoma removal). Some parts of the case were really challenging, but it was so cool to see all of the OR staff working together to get things done - surgeons, pathologist, anesthesiologists, nurses, surgical techs, the blood bank... It was definitely the epitome of teamwork

I Made It!

Tuesday I took my general surgery exam which means I'm doooooone with gen surg!!! :-D I missed blogging so much...

Anyway, all-in-all it was not bad at all. Granted the hours were redic (I am NOT going to miss that 4:30AM start time), I absolutely loved my patients, our residents were cool, the attendings were all great teachers, and I saw some AH-MA-ZING things.

I really gained a new-found respect for Riley on this rotation. I already knew it was considered a tertiary care center for Indiana, but until you see how many families and physicians statewide bring/refer their kids to Riley so that they can have the best of the best care, you can't fully understand what that means. It is so impressive and I am honored to be able to learn from all the great doctors here.

Oh, and everything I was nervous about because I am preggers didn't happen. Like:
- I didn't pass out during long surgeries.
- I didn't need to eat every hour on the hour.
- Long days on my feet didn't induce contractions...just swollen feet lol
- The attendings/fellows/residents were all super understanding if I did need to sit down for a moment during the longer cases and didn't get upset about it.

Here are some of the past 5 week's highlights:
- My first full day on service, I had an 8 hour procedure: choledochal cyst excision
- My second week I had a 5 hour Whipple procedure
- I spent some time in the NICU
- I did some routine things like hernia repairs, circumcisions, port placements and removals.
- I had my first overnight calls - i.e. 5PM-7AM in the hospital (basically 5AM-7AM on a week day)

It was all very cool :-)

Yesterday I had my OB orientation and tonight is my first day on night float (i.e. 5pm-8am shifts)!! And not a moment too soon, look at all this BELLY!

My attire for the last 5 weeks: Scrubs + Bump 

Headed to church for Resurrection Sunday (24 weeks)

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In other news....

Pumpkin was on spring break for the last two weeks of my surgery rotation, and I missed him so much. It's like he got bigger and more mature while he was gone... I can't take it! Now all three musketeers are back in the mix of things...

In other, other news... last week we got the assignments for our three required clerkships for fourth year. I'm so geeked! My preliminary outline of my year will look like this:

June: Elective - SubI in what I want to go into
July: Elective/Give Birth - Something low key would be good here...lol
August: Vacation month with baby
September: Radiology
October: Medicine SubI
November: Elective/Interviews/Maybe Vacation Month
December: Elective/Interviews/Maybe Vacation Month
January: Elective/Interviews
February: Emergency Medicine
March: Elective
April: Elective
May: Graduation!!!!

Okay, hope that wasn't too many updates. I am so happy to be back! Hope you all have a great day! I need to get back in bed so I can be fully functional to deliver babies all night ;-)

P.S. GO BLUE!!! So proud of how our boys did this year!!!

In Case You Don't Hear from Me in a While...

Sometimes we just have to encourage ourselves...
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Don't worry, because I'm fine. I'm just on my general surgery rotation....

We got our assignments on Friday, and starting Wednesday, I will be on pediatric surgery for the next five weeks. This particular rotation has been notorious for being one of the most grueling, mentally exhausting, and nerve wracking rotations due to the high stress level and short tempers of staff.

I have been mentally preparing myself for this seeing as the rumor is if you get a subspecialty rotation as wonderful as ENT, you usually end up with a polar opposite for general surgery (insert Peds Surg).

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I asked some of my friends who have been on the rotation this year if they had any advice and one person responded with: "...Just remember you can't win so don't get mad at yourself if they get mad at you. Just remember, they get mad about everything...Stay positive!"

:Le SIGH:

Today, I felt myself getting a tad bit nervous because of all the unknown, but I realize I need to keep that in check. I'm supposed to "be anxious about nothing", right? Yesterday, at church he talked about having courage to trust God in all areas of your life, and it couldn't have come at a better time. I am totally giving this rotation to God and I know that it will all work out for my good. Third year thus far has been amazing and all of my rotations while with-child have been completed without any setbacks. I am going to lean on faith and expect the best despite what the situation looks like. I pray that His light shines through me as I complete my general surgery rotation.

Rounds start at 5:30AM so I have to be in the hospital pre-rounding on my patients by 4:30AM. It sounds like my days will end around 4:30/5PM, and that will be phenomenal because I can still pick up the little before aftercare shuts down at 6. See, that's already something to be thankful for!

I can do ALL things....

20 Week Belly!

Side-note, I'm officially 20 weeks pregnant today! I cannot believe how fast things are going by! So much to do!!! I think it's time to cave and buy some real maternity pants...I've been holding on with the belly band and/or untucked shirt with undone top button for two weeks now and it's starting to get a little uncomfortable...LOL

Many thanks as always for keeping me in your prayers! It is working!!

xoxo