On a happier note I am LOVING working with Dr Chua. It turns out he is the chief of surgery at the hospital so he sees a lot of cases. He also assists on a lot of surgeries, which I am forced to miss, but he is kind enough to share all the details with me later. Today the P.A. (physicians assistant) in the office brought in a knot board (photo below) and they taught me how to tie different kinds of surgical knots. The different parts of the board are for different situations. I am awful at it but as the drawstring on my PJs can attest I am practicing. I'm really hoping to get a suture board in the future, there's one that mimics differnet kinds of tissue which I really want for my birthday (just an idea if you can't think of something), if you're feeling really giving you can get ones with a full suture board as well.
I have learned a lot of interesting things, but if I listed them all no one would read this so I'll sum it up. First: most neurosurgery work is on the spine not the brain (bummer I know), and secondly: most of the patients you meet with don't actually need surgery.
Dr. Chua is great about walking me through things, so I am learning a lot. He keeps worrying that it's boring me but I have to admit I am loving every minute, nothing has ever interested me this much. I love looking at some one's MRI figuring out what their spine says and then getting into the room and realizing that as awful as their spine looks it's not the cause of their pain. It's amazing to me every day how the body works.
Even medical journals are interesting, when you understand what the jargon means you realize that they are full of interesting, complicated patients. Unfortunately those journals are the reason I am still up at midnight. So because I do have work early tomorrow I will say goodnight.
=D
PS next week I'll write about actual cases but those are REALLY long so I'll spare you all for now.
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