What to use to practice sutures ??

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Ved

Ved

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I'm trying to practice sutures and general surgery for upcoming events. I feel like buying a suture pad is unnecessary as it's simply overpriced ($30-$50). What did you use to practice sutures and cutting?

Let me know.
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Any graveyards near you? That's how the old timers rolled.
 
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I just hang at the local skate park.
 
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Stuck to foam boards/ suture pads for suturing or belt loop for tying knots myself because I preferred not handling food (especially raw meat) while practicing. Some of my colleagues have sworn by banana skins though
 
vhawk said:
An orange is good. A chicken breast is better.
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Quick question. When using an orange, would I slice the Orange in half to create a flat surface to put the orange on?
 
Ved said:
Quick question. When using an orange, would I slice the Orange in half to create a flat surface to put the orange on?
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Either. But you really shouldn't be trying to practice suturing in high school. With no one to teach you, you can pick up bad habits that you'd have to unlearn later if you eventually go into surgery. Also, there are much better uses for your time in high school.

You should restrict your posting to the high school forum for now. hSDN
 
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LucidSplash said:
Either. But you really shouldn't be trying to practice suturing in high school. With no one to teach you, you can pick up bad habits that you'd have to unlearn later if you eventually go into surgery. Also, there are much better uses for your time in high school.

You should restrict your posting to the high school forum for now. hSDN
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Didn't realize it was a high schooler. If they watch some YouTube videos and practice is it all that much different than an intern?
 
vhawk said:
Haha some people are eager and overachievers
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I'm planning to attend couple summer programs on medicine. I'll be able to see if I learned my sutures right :)
 
I did a "so you want to be a doctor" course when I was in high school where we learned a bit about the app process, the job of medicine, did some skills stuff.

It was a total scam and basically just a moneymaking scheme for this cardiologist dude, but I ended up going to med school anyway
 
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vhawk said:
I did a "so you want to be a doctor" course when I was in high school where we learned a bit about the app process, the job of medicine, did some skills stuff.

It was a total scam and basically just a moneymaking scheme for this cardiologist dude, but I ended up going to med school anyway
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The program that I was planning to attend was UPenn's Summer Medicine program. It should be a good fit for me.
 
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This seems like a crazy use of $8K to me. Just IMHO. But I guess if your family has that kind of $$, go for it.
 
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LucidSplash said:
View attachment 232187 This seems like a crazy use of $8K to me. Just IMHO. But I guess if your family has that kind of $$, go for it.
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Yeah it's definitely alot of money for my family too. Would you think it's a good use for it? I'm basically paying for a month of tuition, food, and housing from UPenn.
 
Ved said:
Yeah it's definitely alot of money for my family too. Would you think it's a good use for it?
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UPenn Summer Medicine Program: $8,000, not including housing and food.

Shadowing doctors in your community (family members? family friends?), participating in healthcare-related volunteer work, reading books/articles about healthcare: $0.

Which of the above two options sounds like a better deal?

(By the way, forget suturing. During your four years of undergrad -- and most likely during your first couple of years in medical school, you won't be suturing anyone or anything. It's completely irrelevant to your life right now.)
 
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Ok guys, how much would a month long soccer camp cost? How much would a month long chess camp cost?

It probably looks good on the med school application, and gives fodder for the "how do you know you want to be a doctor" question, as well. Could easily be a +EV purchase from that standpoint alone
 
vhawk said:
Ok guys, how much would a month long soccer camp cost? How much would a month long chess camp cost?

It probably looks good on the med school application, and gives fodder for the "how do you know you want to be a doctor" question, as well. Could easily be a +EV purchase from that standpoint alone
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I don’t think Med schools will care about the medicine camp you attended as a junior in high school.
 
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Not relevant to high schoolers, but in general one pitfall I do see is practicing in an idealized environment. Practicing tying 0 silks on your scrubs without gloves (while better then nothing) won't help you much with tying mono-filaments when double gloved.
 
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Ved said:
I'm trying to practice sutures and general surgery for upcoming events. I feel like buying a suture pad is unnecessary as it's simply overpriced ($30-$50). What did you use to practice sutures and cutting?

Let me know.
Click to expand...

In another post, you said you were in high school. What are you doing suturing?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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This is completely irrelevant, but please stop calling it UPenn. No one who is actually at Penn (or from Philadelphia, for that matter) calls it UPenn, aside from Asian immigrant parents who talk about sending their children there. It's just "Penn."
 
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Ved said:
The program that I was planning to attend was UPenn's Summer Medicine program. It should be a good fit for me.
Click to expand...

Also, that is a crap ton of money for something that is likely to be largely useless.

I am assuming that you are a Pennsylvania resident. If so, why not just apply for the Governor's Schools instead? They're free.
 
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smq123 said:
Also, that is a crap ton of money for something that is likely to be largely useless.

I am assuming that you are a Pennsylvania resident. If so, why not just apply for the Governor's Schools instead? They're free.
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I'm guessing I would be applying for "Governor's School of Sciences"?
 
OrthoTraumaMD said:
In another post, you said you were in high school. What are you doing suturing?


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Just doing it for a hobby. I know I'll probably doing it over again, but it's good to know these things.
 
smq123 said:
This is completely irrelevant, but please stop calling it UPenn. No one who is actually at Penn (or from Philadelphia, for that matter) calls it UPenn, aside from Asian immigrant parents who talk about sending their children there. It's just "Penn."
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And you've got it correct. My asian parents call it UPenn also. :eek:
 
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Ved said:
And you've got it correct. My asian parents call it UPenn also. :eek:
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I know. Mine did too for a long time. They finally stopped a few years ago, after being told "no one calls it UPitt, so please stop calling it UPenn."
 
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smq123 said:
I know. Mine did too for a long time. They finally stopped a few years ago, after being told "no one calls it UPitt, so please stop calling it UPenn."
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Eh, I haven't been living in PA for a while (12 years now, jeez) but everyone in my neck of the woods (Poconos) referred to it as UPenn
 
thedrjojo said:
Eh, I haven't been living in PA for a while (12 years now, jeez) but everyone in my neck of the woods (Poconos) referred to it as UPenn
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Outside of Philadephia, yes, a lot of people still call it UPenn. Inside Philadelphia, no. (Again, except for the Asian immigrant parent thing.) Anyone who goes to Penn, definitely not. Anyone who is related to/married to/partnered with/friends with a Penn student or alum, no.
 
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smq123 said:
Outside of Philadephia, yes, a lot of people still call it UPenn. Inside Philadelphia, no. (Again, except for the Asian immigrant parent thing.) Anyone who goes to Penn, definitely not. Anyone who is related to/married to/partnered with/friends with a Penn student or alum, no.
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True. It's definitely Penn med, not UPenn. And I think the two co-chiefs of mine last year who matched plastics and breast at Penn just referred to it as such
 
thedrjojo said:
True. It's definitely Penn med, not UPenn. And I think the two co-chiefs of mine last year who matched plastics and breast at Penn just referred to it as such
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Yeah, call it "UPenn" in front of a Penn grad and watch them flinch....

It's actually part of their slogan. "Your life is worth Penn Medicine." One of my peds attendings in residency would rant about how condescending their slogan was whenever we were on call together overnight in the ED and we'd see a patient who gets most of their care at Penn/CHOP.
 
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DoctwoB said:
Not relevant to high schoolers, but in general one pitfall I do see is practicing in an idealized environment. Practicing tying 0 silks on your scrubs without gloves (while better then nothing) won't help you much with tying mono-filaments when double gloved.
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Exactly. Whenever any of the students ask me I always tell them to practice double gloved and use like 4-0 prolene or something.
 
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Ved said:
Another problem for me would be that I live near Philadelphia.Unless I would be provided with housing and living care, how would I be able to travel from Philadelphia to Pitt everyday?
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That's partly what the $2800 is for. To pay for housing and food.

Even if you went to the Penn summer medicine program, I would be somewhat surprised if they would let you travel back and forth from home. All of these types of programs are generally residential programs, where you live in a dorm with other people in that program.
 
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smq123 said:
That's partly what the $2800 is for. To pay for housing and food.

Even if you went to the Penn summer medicine program, I would be somewhat surprised if they would let you travel back and forth from home. All of these types of programs are generally residential programs, where you live in a dorm with other people in that program.
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So a governor's school would provide me with housing? Or would I have to pay for that also.
 
Dude, just get a job at whatever hospital working as an orderly/transport. It'll give you stuff to talk about in your college/MS application essays, and you'll make money instead of spending. Med schools love people who either are, or appear to be, poor. People who work to earn money. They are bored of prep school kids who drop 8g on summer programs.
 
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Ved said:
So a governor's school would provide me with housing? Or would I have to pay for that also.
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Governor's school pays for everything - housing, food, tuition, etc.

The Healthcare Sciences used to be a Governor's school, but I think funding got cut for it. So someone resurrected the program as a private program that is sponsored by Pitt. That's why that particular program charges $2800.
 
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Having done Governor's school for healthcare as a high schooler, it was a pretty cool experience. It was still free back in my day, but (at least then) it was good experience to show you (primarily) the OTHER aspects of healthcare. PA, Nurse, Podiatry, etc. Obviously n=1, but I thought it helped me explain to BS/MD interviewers how I knew I wanted to be a doctor and not a nurse/PA/etc. At least that's how I spun it. YMMV.
 
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evilbooyaa said:
Having done Governor's school for healthcare as a high schooler, it was a pretty cool experience. It was still free back in my day, but (at least then) it was good experience to show you (primarily) the OTHER aspects of healthcare. PA, Nurse, Podiatry, etc. Obviously n=1, but I thought it helped me explain to BS/MD interviewers how I knew I wanted to be a doctor and not a nurse/PA/etc. At least that's how I spun it. YMMV.
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Would you think Pitt would give me the same experience? I am planning to apply for BS/MD also in the future.
 
Ved said:
Would you think Pitt would give me the same experience? I am planning to apply for BS/MD also in the future.
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I don't know. I don't know how the program has changed and I have no experience with UPenn's. I would look at the websites for both of them in terms of what they cover.
 
vhawk said:
I did a "so you want to be a doctor" course when I was in high school where we learned a bit about the app process, the job of medicine, did some skills stuff.

It was a total scam and basically just a moneymaking scheme for this cardiologist dude, but I ended up going to med school anyway
Click to expand...
Lol I think my cousin also did this program
 
I dont recommend suturing without superviser in highschool. If you havent startet studiing start slow by teaching yourself how to knot. you dont need more than a the laces of your shoe. and videos are found plenty on the internet. Try SutureTV on youtube for example :)
 
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