your very first surgery...

[stonewall22]

Just curious...

I'm going to start medical school next year. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up, but ortho is one possibility, owing to numerous broken bones growing up and a fascination with the skeletal system. Anyway, I digress, I probably won't have a good idea until clinical rotations...however, I'm curious how people react after observing or performing their first surgery? It seems to me like a large portion of the population might have a problem with seeing an open wound, etc, yet all medical school students do surgery rotations. Am I thinking naively since I'm not there, or do many students have difficulty initially and then get used to it or come to like it?

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[smq123]

It seems to me like a large portion of the population might have a problem with seeing an open wound, etc, yet all medical school students do surgery rotations. Am I thinking naively since I'm not there, or do many students have difficulty initially and then get used to it or come to like it?

By the time you start your surgery rotation, you shouldn't have that much difficulty with open wounds. You should be at least somewhat desensitized after gross anatomy lab, and after seeing many pictures of parasite infections and horrifying dermatological conditions.

I think most students have the biggest difficulty with the hours, and the work environment.

 

[Ashers]

By the time you start your surgery rotation, you shouldn't have that much difficulty with open wounds. You should be at least somewhat desensitized after gross anatomy lab, and after seeing many pictures of parasite infections and horrifying dermatological conditions.

I think most students have the biggest difficulty with the hours, and the work environment.

I agree, but some of the stuff from the 1st 2 years, I still can't handle well without cringing, sometimes I have to look away from a screen.

I can't handle pictures of parasites that are worms or bugs, and face and eye wounds/dissections still creep me out.

I shadowed surgeons before med school and had no problems. The smell of the cautery weirded me out more than anything the fist time I saw a case.

 

[DOme2009]

my first surgery was an L4-S1 fusion and there really wasn't anything that sickening about it, except the rongeur did make a really nice crunching sound every now and then.

the penile prosthetic implant surgery made me a little bit nauseated (the single most barbaric surgery i have seen to date).

 

[193250]

my first surgery was an L4-S1 fusion and there really wasn't anything that sickening about it, except the rongeur did make a really nice crunching sound every now and then.

the penile prosthetic implant surgery made me a little bit nauseated (the single most barbaric surgery i have seen to date).

I'm not even in medical school yet, but... O-M-G.... imagining it makes me cringe and hold my dear ones even closer

 

[marcusjohn]

when you are really in performing the surgery,you dont dont feel the barbaric part of the act.. you have to concentrate on the procedure and the possible outcome..its the desire that matters

 

[marcusjohn]

By the time you start your surgery rotation, you shouldn't have that much difficulty with open wounds. You should be at least somewhat desensitized after gross anatomy lab, and after seeing many pictures of parasite infections and horrifying dermatological conditions.

I think most students have the biggest difficulty with the hours, and the work environment.

i feel that open wound is nothing, but the exposure to make things better.

 

[MossPoh]

I agree, but some of the stuff from the 1st 2 years, I still can't handle well without cringing, sometimes I have to look away from a screen.

I can't handle pictures of parasites that are worms or bugs, and face and eye wounds/dissections still creep me out.

I shadowed surgeons before med school and had no problems. The smell of the cautery weirded me out more than anything the fist time I saw a case.

Isn't it weird the things that make you feel a little creeped out? I have viewed a shotgun blast to the leg and numerous other fairly nasty injuries without a problem, yet a weird rash bothers me for some reason.

 

[Ashers]

Isn't it weird the things that make you feel a little creeped out? I have viewed a shotgun blast to the leg and numerous other fairly nasty injuries without a problem, yet a weird rash bothers me for some reason.

I'm going into ortho, some of the stuff I've seen makes cringe and me say "Ow, that's gotta hurt," but there are some things like the autopsy I had to watch M2 year where I felt sick and had to leave early, and anything involving injuries to the face where I can't handle it. Oh, and mention scabies or lice, and all I can do is picture nasty little crawly things.

 

[aphistis]

The smell of the cautery weirded me out more than anything the fist time I saw a case.

Gotta love the smell of bacon frying in the OR.