During this rotation I was able to scrub into many surgeries. During my 3 general surgery weeks I was on the B team which was bariatrics so I was able to see many lap gastrectomies and hernia repairs. I was also able to see other surgeries such as mastectomy, lumpectomy, implant exchange, cholecystectomy, appendectomy, lobectomy, AVF placement, etc. I think it was really interesting to get to watch the robo assisted surgeries because you can see how technology has advanced medicine.

During my specialty weeks it was interesting to get to see different types of procedures than the ones I had grown used to seeing. I especially enjoyed my on call night as I feel like I was able to learn the most during this time because I was able to go to the many surgical consults in the ED that night and review patient imaging and labs with the resident on call. I was also able to go to the floor with other on call residents and assist them with their patients such as transporting to CT scan and reviewing those images, assisting in NG tube placement, visiting a patient with a fib and tracking his condition/telemetry overnight. I also got to experience first assisting a few times, especially in urology where I assisted in multiple cystoscopies and circumcisions and in general surgery where I was able to first assist in a few elective cholecystectomies. I enjoyed my time in neurosurgery and was able to learn and develop my neuro exam.

During my site evaluation I received a lot of helpful comments and suggestions regarding my H&P that I had not received prior. I think this helped to strengthen my H&P writing and also develop my plans more.

I think this rotation was different from prior rotations because since there is no clinic time at this specific site and you are scheduled for many surgeries a day, patient contact is limited outside of rounds. This is different from prior rotations where there was a lot of patient contact. I do however think I was able to get a lot of experience with SOAP note writing/presentations during my general surgery week as I was assigned patients to pre-round on every morning and then present their overnight course to the team. In the OR I was able to practice my suturing and learn how to do other types of sutures than the ones we were tested on in school, such as subcuticular and deep dermal, and I was also shown how to tie different types of knots such as the aberdeen knot. I noticed that by my last surgery I was able to close incisions much quicker and easily than I was at the beginning of the rotation.

Overall, I think I was able to learn a lot during this rotation, especially during my neurosurgery week. Since we don’t get a clinic opportunity, I would have enjoyed more time on the floor or doing consults because I feel as though the majority of learning happened during this time. During my last rotation reflection I stated I wanted more practice writing SOAP notes and I was able to accomplish that during this rotation.

For my next rotation, which will be in OBGYN I hope to do develop my skills with additional procedures as I was able to do some pap smears/pelvic exams during my family medicine rotation but I hope to strengthen that during this time. I also hope to strengthen specific aspects of my physical exam such as the breast exam and learn which type of method is best for me. I plan to accomplish this by asking to participate in procedures.