Last day in OR rotation

Well, this turned out to be the best day in my OR rotation. I was able to watch 2 total knee replacements. This is quite an amazing process. If you have ever heard that orthopedic surgeons use hammers and power screwdrivers and saws, you have heard correctly. On both of those patients, one a female and the other a male, I was asked if I wanted to do the catheters on them. This is a perfect opportunity since they are under anesthesia when catheters are placed. Lucky me...

The third surgery was an arthroscopy on a lady's shoulder with a possible rotator cuff repair. I got to help them prep her arm for surgery. Was it bad that I was hoping her rotator cuff needed repairing just so I could see it? Well, it didn't need to be but the surgeon took a drill type tool to her clavicle and scraped it down. That was cool to watch.

I guess this surgeon has a tradition of making students ask him 3 questions. Well, I was tipped off to ask him "How did such a nice guy like you end up in such a barbaric profession?" which is something he says about himself every so often in the middle of surgery. He laughed and told me I deserve an A and then asked me where I was from and I told him about Emmett, Idaho. Well, it turns out that his best friend in the whole world grew up in Emmett, Idaho but lives here now. After the surgery, he found my instructor and told her how sharp I was. She mentioned it to me when I was leaving.