Sterility in surgery is of the utmost importance. After we scrub in we can only touch items on the table, and our hands can only be held from the table height to mid-chest height. Scratching your face, adjusting fogged goggles, anything of the sort is out of the question. Even accidental brushes against something non-sterile requires a new set of gloves to be opened up for you.
The OR really dries me out. I had to sneeze, and my mask was a little looser in an attempt to avoid fogging up my goggles. Unfortunately, I sneezed…and the mask came off.
I ended up scrubbing out because we were at the end of the case. Quite funny.
I’m in the last few days of my general surgical rotation. Hours have not been as bad as expected, although we’ve had a few long days. I’m only occasionally embarrassed by my preceptor, who can be fairly demanding.
Next I’m back in Des Moines, where I will be doing two weeks of neurosurgery (and hopefully working alongside a former UNI classmate who is a PA there). That’s followed by two weeks of OB-GYN, also in the Des Moines area. I’m actually in DSM and staying with my parents from here until school is done because May will be Internal Med in Des Moines, and then we start back on campus in June.
Just realized I need to learn 100 of my board review questions per week to be on track to have all 800 done by the end of rotations. This does not include reading my board review book. Not sure when I’ll get that done! Yikes!
My friend/classmate and I have registered for a board review conference in Atlantic City, NJ which takes place the week immediately after school finishes. I’m hoping this helps me focus and pull my knowledge together. Plus, it should give me a little more confidence than studying on my own does. Hopefully it will also be fun!
Until next time…
I can’t wait to be in one place during the week and on the weekends. Excited to be in iowa City full-time with W.
