The day started off in the gynecology operating theater. It's all very british based medical terminology here....so we are in a theater and not an operation room. I waited in the, I'd call it "prep room". The area before going into the actual operation room. Beds were standing where ever there was room. Anesthisiology was going around laying IV lines. One of the girls from my group was there since she was assigned a patient. We couldn't operate though because her blood sugar levels were too high. She was supposed to get a new IV bag attached. The girl and the other one that showed up didn't really seem to know what to do. I guided her through it. I think the students do get to do some things before we might in Germany, at least with less supervision at times. Had I not told her to get gloves, I don't think she would have on her own. I know my hygiene standard in medicine is much higher than of others here because I'm just used to it, the endless supply of supplies and the many. many, many rules in Germany. Had it been at my disposal, I would have made her disinfect the area first but that is a luxury not available here. I ran her through the process, adjusting to what is available here. I also made her run the fluid out first because there was a lot of air in the tube. Had she not done that, she could have caused an air embolism! She kept on asking me what to do next (not that I'm an expert by any means) and it made me think this whole thing could have gone wrong. Not that someone will necessarily die right away but infection and embolism are legit risks. Maybe I'm just crazy paranoid coming from the system in Germany.
As the other students starting coming in, we headed into one OR to watch a myoma be removed from a uterus. The hygiene set up was obviously different than that in Germany but seemed sufficient.....until the students who wanted to watch got really, really close to the sterile surgeons. I'm talking shoulder to shoulder almost, right next to the instrumentation....
We watched the removal and the start of the sewing back up but left before it was completed to go to a tutorial. I'm not quite sure if they have a set schedule or just schedule things with doctors. I asked them how long a tutorial lasts. They replied saying it could take 3 hours. That would never work in Germany, everyone, including myself, likes to know exactly when they have to be where and for how long so everything else can be planned accordingly. Here, they just don't have other plans and wait to see what happens. Takes the pressure off of the seminar though. Dr. Walter did a great job! One of the best seminars I've been in actually. Everyone had to contribute, even me. Most of the time the doctors don't require me to answer questions which in honesty would also be difficult at times because the questions often pertain to procedures which are quite different here from in Germany. In this seminar though, I was actively involved in the discussion. He is an older man, had his coffee tray brought to him at the beginning of the seminar and had a very calm way about his talking. He really wanted the students to understand what they were saying and suggesting. I really appreciated this since I often feel they can recite information but haven't completely thought about why. The topic was postpartum hemorrhage....bleeding after giving birth. He really took us through every aspect of cause, clinic, signs, management and prevention. The chairs in the doctors lounge where we were in were really comfy and made me quite tired. The last 15 minutes of the seminar were a bit of a struggle. Not because of the discussion though, which is sometimes the case back home. Seriously, I liked the seminar a lot.
Pablo picked me up at 8 to watch the soccer game at MedDiner. Manchester United lost 3-0 to Manchester City for those interested. Afterwards I hung out with Pablo and David at their place and watched movies until about midnight. Really nice guys them two.
Baci
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