Hello out there!
I officially welcome you to my fourth semester. This means a lot of stress ahead. Its my Biochemistry semester with a dash of psychology and a pinch of integrated seminars to spice things up. I am continuing my job as English teacher for the MTA Radiology students and have been accepted as anatomy cadavers class teachers assistant (a dream job I've wanted for a very long time and which allows me to jump into my father's footsteps). I will continue to play in the Medical Faculty Orchestra, be active in the student body government and still have to choose the work out classes I will attend. Oh and on the side I think I will study medicine, lol. No, but seriously, this semester will be a challenge. The Anatomy semester was the hardest I ever had but it only focused on one subject. I have to know everything I learned in the last 1.5-2 years by the 23 and 24 of August when we have our written 1st doctors exam. The anatomy job will keep me up to date on anatomy and I am planning on taking one day in the week to review a subject in physiology and histologie. My goal is to learn a lot over a long period of time and not start after the biochemistry exam.
Last Monday we started our biochemistry lectures. The professor is so motivated and gets really excited when he gets to taking about the chemical bonds in amino acids. Its quite comical but at the same time motivating. The fourth semester starts the lectures 2 weeks before the official begin on request from the students so that we have more time to study for Physikum (first Med exam). We also have to take psychology curses that last a week and run all day. I was supposed to have that week at the end of the last semester but then they offered another class during the first week of lectures. I switched which gave me an extra week of vacation! Most of my friends already had their class so while they chilled in the sun, I sat in the room listening to presentations. My presentation was about sexual medicine. It just seemed natural after taking Human Sexuality 160 at UW Madison. My professor even mentioned that he learned something from me. All in all the week was fine though and the other presentations were mostly done well. Friday I used my 20% missing allowance and drove to Stuttgart for a wonderful weekend visiting my grandma, great aunt, great cousin and his baby.
Now we are in the second week of lectures and I still really haven't found out what exactly we should know from the lectures. The professor always shows a lot of structures and tells a lot about it but none of us know how much we really need to know of it. We also started with psychology lectures yesterday. The lady is not the nicest and her presentation was 95% the same as in my block curse. I hope it'll be better today. I guess I'l see!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
3rd Semester....check
Hey everyone!
Guess whos on break......I am. In fact, I have been in the states for the last 1.5 weeks. The original purpose was to renew my passport which ended up not happening due to formalities. Regardless, I had a terrific time back home. I saw all my college buddies and a few from High School. I went and talked to the High School Anatomy class about my life. That was not my initial intention. I wanted to hear what they were doing and thought I might talk about myself for 10 minutes tops....but after all of their questions...I talk the entire hour! The students in the class were all seniors which makes them my frosh. If I come back next year, I won't know a single soul anymore and will feel really old.
Even in my breaks I am not totally away from school. I have some pages to read about Sexual Medicine for my psychology class and have to write a report about my shadowing in the ER with my Dad. I'll admit I've only read about 5 pages on the sexual medicine and haven't written a sentence yet for my shadowing report.
Just to finish up last semester:
I passed Physiology nicely. The exam wasn't terrible. Physiology is actually really cool because you learn so much about how your body works. Once that exam was taken, we all had to start with Histology. We had about 4.5 days to get as much histology in our heads as possible. I set up a learning schedule on the first day and actually stuck to it. I met up with Toni every day to go over things. The exam went great as well. So all in all, the really long studying hours paid off. I wouldn't say that this semester was as stressful as the last (anatomy) but it was right up there with it. Mostly that is my fault for adding so many extra things to my schedule. I don't regret it though. The elective anatomy class was definitely an experience and I learned to view the human body more precisely. I like teaching English to the MTA students and being an anatomy TA was probably the most fun. I heard from my roommate that he heard that the firsties really liked my anatomy demonstrations which make me really happy.
This next semester will be packed with biochemistry, being a cadavers anatomy TA, teaching English, orchestra, student body government and review seminars for the first Med Exam. But before that happens, there is still a lot of traveling happening. To get the details, check out my travel blog
www.viktoriasglobalwalkoff.blogspot.com
Check back after March 28th for new updates about my quest to becoming a life saver ;)
Guess whos on break......I am. In fact, I have been in the states for the last 1.5 weeks. The original purpose was to renew my passport which ended up not happening due to formalities. Regardless, I had a terrific time back home. I saw all my college buddies and a few from High School. I went and talked to the High School Anatomy class about my life. That was not my initial intention. I wanted to hear what they were doing and thought I might talk about myself for 10 minutes tops....but after all of their questions...I talk the entire hour! The students in the class were all seniors which makes them my frosh. If I come back next year, I won't know a single soul anymore and will feel really old.
Even in my breaks I am not totally away from school. I have some pages to read about Sexual Medicine for my psychology class and have to write a report about my shadowing in the ER with my Dad. I'll admit I've only read about 5 pages on the sexual medicine and haven't written a sentence yet for my shadowing report.
Just to finish up last semester:
I passed Physiology nicely. The exam wasn't terrible. Physiology is actually really cool because you learn so much about how your body works. Once that exam was taken, we all had to start with Histology. We had about 4.5 days to get as much histology in our heads as possible. I set up a learning schedule on the first day and actually stuck to it. I met up with Toni every day to go over things. The exam went great as well. So all in all, the really long studying hours paid off. I wouldn't say that this semester was as stressful as the last (anatomy) but it was right up there with it. Mostly that is my fault for adding so many extra things to my schedule. I don't regret it though. The elective anatomy class was definitely an experience and I learned to view the human body more precisely. I like teaching English to the MTA students and being an anatomy TA was probably the most fun. I heard from my roommate that he heard that the firsties really liked my anatomy demonstrations which make me really happy.
This next semester will be packed with biochemistry, being a cadavers anatomy TA, teaching English, orchestra, student body government and review seminars for the first Med Exam. But before that happens, there is still a lot of traveling happening. To get the details, check out my travel blog
www.viktoriasglobalwalkoff.blogspot.com
Check back after March 28th for new updates about my quest to becoming a life saver ;)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
3. Semester
I have a four hour layover in Chicago so I thought I would finally use this time to catch up on this blog that I haven't been attending to the whole semester. So let me start from the beginning.
After a wonderful summer of working, traveling, exploring and learning I returned back to Göttingen. I missed the deadline to become an anatomy TA for the second semester Med students (3x a week, 2.5 hours cadaver TA). It wouldn't have brought me much anyways because the spots were all ready filled with the fourth semester students. To fill the void I was feeling from not getting the job, I packed my schedule full. I will admit that I might have added a bit much, but I am managing it and seeing it as preparation for what will certainly be a busy job. I will have to lay off a bit next semester thought because it is the semester before my first med exam. The main focus of my semester is physiology. That is the study of the human body functions. It deals a lot with physics and chemistry but it refers to the human body and the labs contain things like measuring our blood pressure or having an EKG done. I have lecture every morning from 8-10 and afterwards I have discussions and labs. Besides physiology, we had histology (studying tissues under the microscope) the first two weeks every day with 2 hour lectures and 2 hour labs….every day! Then we had it only for 2 hours once a week for 4 weeks. The histology exam is on the 9th of February which means we will be crashing for that after the physiology exam on the 4th of February. I studied more than my friends did for histology parallel to the lectures in the first two weeks which gives me a head start. So this semester could have been really chill. I could have only had Physiology. But those of you who know me know that that would just not do.
I am still in the student body government like I have been from the beginning. We meet about every second wednesday and organize events and work at parties. The beginning of the semester party was fun but also very stressful at the wardrobe station.
I also tried out for the orchestra and got a spot. We have practice every Wednesday from 8 to 10 PM. Its nice to be playing again. We had a little concert for a dentistry event and then had our christmas concert on the 8th of December. I even got to take home a christmas tree from the concert (it was way to big for our living room but I was happy we had one). On the weekend before the dentistry event, we had a whole weekend of practicing….7 hours each day.
I am an english teacher for radiology medical technician assistant students. They have class every Thursday for 1.5 hours. I got referred there by a good friend who previously taught the class. It is a required class for the students but it doesn't have a final exam. I try to make the classes fun and interesting so that they pay attention. We've played games and I even let them watch an ER episode were they had to answer questions and I brought popcorn to add to the fun.
I am also an anatomy TA for the newbies (first semester med students). In the first semester, among other classes, they attend anatomy lectures (well at least I hope they do). On most Fridays, the come to the cadaver hall and we talk to them for an hour about what they did in lecture and try to give them a feel for the cadavers class they take the next semester. We didn't have this when I was a newbie and I went into the cadavers class not knowing what to expect let alone know what the things looked like that I was looking for. I told the newbies on the first day that I didn't care if they listened to me or not (although I preferred it) but that it was more important for me that they use the opportunity and come in to see the cadavers and get a feel of where stuff is and what things look like. There are two times on the Fridays; 10-11 and 13-14 o'clock. Well of course I am doing both. I am one of only two people doing both times. The professor leading the program was pleased when I told him I would do both.
I took an elective class last semester because my roommate didn't want to go to the meeting alone and I ended up in the class. We only have to take one in the first two years but the one I really wanted to take only happens in the winter semester so I am taking a second one. The professor leading the class is my favorite, Prof. S. He is actually retired but still does a lot for us students (more to that in a second). The elective class is "Advanced cadavers". We are working on the cadavers that will be used for the med exam this spring. We aren't doing as much as we did in the 2nd semester cadavers class but everything is done more intensely and we are graded on how beautiful our work is done. My first area was head and neck. We have a lecture Wednesday mornings and then we go to the cadavers and work on them for two hours. It doesn't stop there though. Any free time we have everyday from 10AM-6PM is spent in that hall working on the cadaver…..every free minute.
On every friday, Prof. S. does a 3 hour anatomy class. The first hour is held as a lecture where we discuss a specific topic. The second and third hour are held in the cadavers hall where we discuss what we heard in lecture on the body and get clinical information from him. It is a lovely review and he does it quite nicely. Its not a required appointment, but he sees it as an extension of his elective class and likes to see us there. Even if it had nothing to do with my elective class I would still go. He is a great teacher and I want to learn as much as I can from him until he deicides to no longer do his extra classes.
On a few Fridays of the semester we also have a one hour long event where we have lecture in the hospital about a sickness or condition and a doctor talks to us about the clinical aspect, a professor explains the anatomy or physiology behind it and a patient is presented and interviewed.
To help me relax from my busy schedule I ironically added more appointments. I signed up for a Yoga class that runs every Monday for 1.5 hours and a hip-hop class every Tuesday for 1.5 hours.
You can see that I am quite a busy person. My friends joke about having to make appointments with me to even see me anymore. In a way its true. The first week or so of my full schedule was tough. I had just gotten back from a summer of fun and few appointments and now I had things to do, places to be and people relying on me to know what I was doing! I was stressed the first week. In the second week I had it down and it was normal for me to run from one appointment to the next, spend any "free" time in the cadavers hall and study from 10PM-?? every night. I sometimes fear that my physiology and histology are taking the back seat but I won't allow that to happen.
Some other events that have happened during the semester so far were:
Orientation week: I actually had my psychology class that entire week but we got to miss one day. I missed Wednesday to get together with my orientation leaders when I was a newbie and greeted the new newbies and took them around town and had a lot of fun.
Cadaver's memorial service: I am not a churchy person but this service was nice and I feel important for the relatives of the body donors.
Aktionstag: We had the same thing last year where I watched the live operations of the esophagus tumor being removed and the stomach replacing the void. Well, this year we saw a patient get his whole (!) large intestine removed!
Christmas market: the oh so loved christmas market with plenty of hot spiced wine and overpriced crepes. A group of girls and I went to the Kassel christmas market which is much larger than ours in Göttingen.
Nikolaus Party: I was here last year as well. Everyone watched Feuerzangbowle, an old German movie that basically everyone knows. Afterwards the city orchestra plays and then there is a show and DJ.
New friend!: Katy comes from Wisconsin! I met her in Thanners one night. She happens to be the roommate of my former physics TA. We have hung out a few times and she is a lot of fun and reminds me of home.
EKG: After having my EKG taken during a physiology lab and reconfirming my extra heart beat, I went to the cardiologist to have a long time EKG done. I have an appointment with the cardiologist on the 18th to discuss the condition and determine if it is harmless or something to monitor or correct.
So why am I at Chicago O'Hare you might be asking yourself (or not if you know the reason). I flew home the 16th of December, missing a week of school, to visit my family and friends. I had so much fun. I took a day trip to Chicago with a friend, went to Madison a lot, hung out and home and met up with some friends. My puppy (okay so he is 8, but still) Toby had to get his eye removed because it was getting to big. He has had a big eye since he was born and has most likely only ever seen with his left eye. In the last year it got worse and although my mom treated it with eye drops, it didn't want to get better. On the 30th of December I took him in to get it removed. I was allowed to watch. I had done a 7 week internship with the vet so we had a fun time catching up. After the eye was removed we cut it open to take a look inside. The whole eye was filled with blood and the lines was completely cataract. The recovery is going really well. I have gotten used to his one eye. Honestly, I think it almost looks better now than it did before. The big bulging eye just didn't fit his face. Now it looks like he is always winking at you. Once the fur grows over and the scar isn't visible anymore it'll even look better. I was glad that I was there in the time were it was done so that I could comfort him.
Now I return to Germany with a very busy schedule (due mostly to that fact that any minute what so ever will be used to study) that will be done February 9th. My mom and I have a fun Greece trip planned for March. My biochemistry classes will be starting 2 weeks before everyone else starts with classes.
Well my friends, that is my update. I will try to post more regularly but there probably won't be more to say than all I do it go to class and study. If anything interesting does happen however, I will be sure to post!
Baci
V
After a wonderful summer of working, traveling, exploring and learning I returned back to Göttingen. I missed the deadline to become an anatomy TA for the second semester Med students (3x a week, 2.5 hours cadaver TA). It wouldn't have brought me much anyways because the spots were all ready filled with the fourth semester students. To fill the void I was feeling from not getting the job, I packed my schedule full. I will admit that I might have added a bit much, but I am managing it and seeing it as preparation for what will certainly be a busy job. I will have to lay off a bit next semester thought because it is the semester before my first med exam. The main focus of my semester is physiology. That is the study of the human body functions. It deals a lot with physics and chemistry but it refers to the human body and the labs contain things like measuring our blood pressure or having an EKG done. I have lecture every morning from 8-10 and afterwards I have discussions and labs. Besides physiology, we had histology (studying tissues under the microscope) the first two weeks every day with 2 hour lectures and 2 hour labs….every day! Then we had it only for 2 hours once a week for 4 weeks. The histology exam is on the 9th of February which means we will be crashing for that after the physiology exam on the 4th of February. I studied more than my friends did for histology parallel to the lectures in the first two weeks which gives me a head start. So this semester could have been really chill. I could have only had Physiology. But those of you who know me know that that would just not do.
I am still in the student body government like I have been from the beginning. We meet about every second wednesday and organize events and work at parties. The beginning of the semester party was fun but also very stressful at the wardrobe station.
I also tried out for the orchestra and got a spot. We have practice every Wednesday from 8 to 10 PM. Its nice to be playing again. We had a little concert for a dentistry event and then had our christmas concert on the 8th of December. I even got to take home a christmas tree from the concert (it was way to big for our living room but I was happy we had one). On the weekend before the dentistry event, we had a whole weekend of practicing….7 hours each day.
I am an english teacher for radiology medical technician assistant students. They have class every Thursday for 1.5 hours. I got referred there by a good friend who previously taught the class. It is a required class for the students but it doesn't have a final exam. I try to make the classes fun and interesting so that they pay attention. We've played games and I even let them watch an ER episode were they had to answer questions and I brought popcorn to add to the fun.
I am also an anatomy TA for the newbies (first semester med students). In the first semester, among other classes, they attend anatomy lectures (well at least I hope they do). On most Fridays, the come to the cadaver hall and we talk to them for an hour about what they did in lecture and try to give them a feel for the cadavers class they take the next semester. We didn't have this when I was a newbie and I went into the cadavers class not knowing what to expect let alone know what the things looked like that I was looking for. I told the newbies on the first day that I didn't care if they listened to me or not (although I preferred it) but that it was more important for me that they use the opportunity and come in to see the cadavers and get a feel of where stuff is and what things look like. There are two times on the Fridays; 10-11 and 13-14 o'clock. Well of course I am doing both. I am one of only two people doing both times. The professor leading the program was pleased when I told him I would do both.
I took an elective class last semester because my roommate didn't want to go to the meeting alone and I ended up in the class. We only have to take one in the first two years but the one I really wanted to take only happens in the winter semester so I am taking a second one. The professor leading the class is my favorite, Prof. S. He is actually retired but still does a lot for us students (more to that in a second). The elective class is "Advanced cadavers". We are working on the cadavers that will be used for the med exam this spring. We aren't doing as much as we did in the 2nd semester cadavers class but everything is done more intensely and we are graded on how beautiful our work is done. My first area was head and neck. We have a lecture Wednesday mornings and then we go to the cadavers and work on them for two hours. It doesn't stop there though. Any free time we have everyday from 10AM-6PM is spent in that hall working on the cadaver…..every free minute.
On every friday, Prof. S. does a 3 hour anatomy class. The first hour is held as a lecture where we discuss a specific topic. The second and third hour are held in the cadavers hall where we discuss what we heard in lecture on the body and get clinical information from him. It is a lovely review and he does it quite nicely. Its not a required appointment, but he sees it as an extension of his elective class and likes to see us there. Even if it had nothing to do with my elective class I would still go. He is a great teacher and I want to learn as much as I can from him until he deicides to no longer do his extra classes.
On a few Fridays of the semester we also have a one hour long event where we have lecture in the hospital about a sickness or condition and a doctor talks to us about the clinical aspect, a professor explains the anatomy or physiology behind it and a patient is presented and interviewed.
To help me relax from my busy schedule I ironically added more appointments. I signed up for a Yoga class that runs every Monday for 1.5 hours and a hip-hop class every Tuesday for 1.5 hours.
You can see that I am quite a busy person. My friends joke about having to make appointments with me to even see me anymore. In a way its true. The first week or so of my full schedule was tough. I had just gotten back from a summer of fun and few appointments and now I had things to do, places to be and people relying on me to know what I was doing! I was stressed the first week. In the second week I had it down and it was normal for me to run from one appointment to the next, spend any "free" time in the cadavers hall and study from 10PM-?? every night. I sometimes fear that my physiology and histology are taking the back seat but I won't allow that to happen.
Some other events that have happened during the semester so far were:
Orientation week: I actually had my psychology class that entire week but we got to miss one day. I missed Wednesday to get together with my orientation leaders when I was a newbie and greeted the new newbies and took them around town and had a lot of fun.
Cadaver's memorial service: I am not a churchy person but this service was nice and I feel important for the relatives of the body donors.
Aktionstag: We had the same thing last year where I watched the live operations of the esophagus tumor being removed and the stomach replacing the void. Well, this year we saw a patient get his whole (!) large intestine removed!
Christmas market: the oh so loved christmas market with plenty of hot spiced wine and overpriced crepes. A group of girls and I went to the Kassel christmas market which is much larger than ours in Göttingen.
Nikolaus Party: I was here last year as well. Everyone watched Feuerzangbowle, an old German movie that basically everyone knows. Afterwards the city orchestra plays and then there is a show and DJ.
New friend!: Katy comes from Wisconsin! I met her in Thanners one night. She happens to be the roommate of my former physics TA. We have hung out a few times and she is a lot of fun and reminds me of home.
EKG: After having my EKG taken during a physiology lab and reconfirming my extra heart beat, I went to the cardiologist to have a long time EKG done. I have an appointment with the cardiologist on the 18th to discuss the condition and determine if it is harmless or something to monitor or correct.
So why am I at Chicago O'Hare you might be asking yourself (or not if you know the reason). I flew home the 16th of December, missing a week of school, to visit my family and friends. I had so much fun. I took a day trip to Chicago with a friend, went to Madison a lot, hung out and home and met up with some friends. My puppy (okay so he is 8, but still) Toby had to get his eye removed because it was getting to big. He has had a big eye since he was born and has most likely only ever seen with his left eye. In the last year it got worse and although my mom treated it with eye drops, it didn't want to get better. On the 30th of December I took him in to get it removed. I was allowed to watch. I had done a 7 week internship with the vet so we had a fun time catching up. After the eye was removed we cut it open to take a look inside. The whole eye was filled with blood and the lines was completely cataract. The recovery is going really well. I have gotten used to his one eye. Honestly, I think it almost looks better now than it did before. The big bulging eye just didn't fit his face. Now it looks like he is always winking at you. Once the fur grows over and the scar isn't visible anymore it'll even look better. I was glad that I was there in the time were it was done so that I could comfort him.
Now I return to Germany with a very busy schedule (due mostly to that fact that any minute what so ever will be used to study) that will be done February 9th. My mom and I have a fun Greece trip planned for March. My biochemistry classes will be starting 2 weeks before everyone else starts with classes.
Well my friends, that is my update. I will try to post more regularly but there probably won't be more to say than all I do it go to class and study. If anything interesting does happen however, I will be sure to post!
Baci
V
Monday, August 30, 2010
Intership....done
So, I made it. My internship is over. The last few days were not all to special. I brought the station a present on Thursday. It is a picture from Lichtenstein (The Woman with a hairband) and is created using Gummibärchen (Gummy Bears).
Various doctors and patients said good bye to me and wished me the best. On the last day I still got my report done. I had to listen to a doctor-patient conversation and then write about it. At the end of my day I even got a card from the nurses. I think they liked me and I definitely had my fun there. I learned a lot and am very thankful that I got to watch operations.
Probably the most touching moment was this one: I was rushing around the halls to put stuff away and one of our patients (she is life threatening sick at the moment and was lying on a specialized bed in the hallway (it works with sound)) stopped me. She told me that if I made it through all the studying and became a doctor.....I would be a very good doctor.
I was very touched.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Finally sterile!
Operation start 10:05AM
I call Dr.N to see if I should come to the operation room yet and the operation nurse answers the phone. She informs me that it is about to begin and that if I want to see something I should probably hurry up. So I jog to the dressing rooms basically. I arrive in room 1 and introduce myself. The nurse sticks me in the corner and tells me to wait until the patient is cleaned and then she would tell me where I could stand. At this point I am thinking "crap, she doesn't know that I am supposed to be sterile for this operation and Dr.N is in the room and isn't saying anything". Instantly my mood was down. I had met Dr.N earlier in the day and asked when I should come to the operation and already got the feeling that he wasn't having the best day ever. He seemed a little bugged.
Dr.N continued to clean the patient and then got all sterile himself. My mind keeps thinking "crap, crap, crap, he forgot! Should I say something? No, he seems a little annoyed with life at the moment." Then the assistant Dr. gets paged and Dr.N informs the operation nurse that as soon as he arrives, I should wash up with him! Yay, he didn't forget!
Finally Dr.W arrived and took me to the washing room. He showed me how to wash my hands, act in the operation room and then took me to get my sterile clothes put on. Then I got to stand next to him (with the patient's arm between us) at the table. The position was a bit stupid because I couldn't see all to much at first. It has been the same with every operation, within the first 15 minutes I get a really weird feeling, it is not a problem with blood, blood doesn't bother me, but rather the standing (although its only 15 minutes to begin with), the bright lights and who the heck knows what else. My vision went black on the sides and I just concentrated not to pass out and at the same time not let anyone notice what was going on with me. I concentrated on my breathing and making it look like I was attentively following what they were doing. Once the black was gone my vision was in super over exposure. The operation area was a big bright white area, I looked to the window and instead of seeing the landscape I saw a big white bright area. My eyes didn't focus right, even after opening and closing them. Then I saw the pattern of my iris in my vision field. I am telling you, it was totally crazy. As if someone had totally over exposed my vision. I really concentrated on my breathing and again not letting anyone notice what was going on. Thankfully, after about 10 minutes it was over. Then I became a crazy sensation of thirst and I was sweating like crazy. I really could have killed for about a gallon of water at that moment. That feeling was thankfully over after about 3 minutes. Then came the hunger for about 2 minutes and then, as if nothing had ever happened, it was all over and I was absolutely fine!?! Crazy I tell you! Below is an example of what I kind of was seeing.
 |
| Normal Vision |
 |
| Then this |
 |
| Then this! But almost even more intense! |
I got to hold a few clamps, cut some string from the stitches made and had to name a few structures. Like I said, Dr.N wasn't having his best day but thankfully Dr.W explained a lot and we had our fun. He started speaking pigeon English for fun and I answered in English to see what he would say. We spent the next 15 minutes speaking English with one another and German with the others....it was pretty funny. I was situated on his side of the table, so that I could assist him in what he was doing and otherwise hold clamps and hooks for both of them. It was a fun (minus the weird senstations at the beginning) and interesting operation and it was nice to be there sterile and be able to help a bit.
After 4.5 hours we were done and I headed back to my stuff to get changed and then catch Grandma for a ride home.
I have three days left and then it is off to Gö again! I still have to fit in a 2-4 hour shadowing of a doctor for my psychology class. I will have to discuss it with the nurses tomorrow. I will have to write the report on my way back to Gö/ in Gö before my vacation because the teacher wants it 3 weeks in advance of our 1-week class and I won't have the opportunity to send it to him within the month of September so I really need to get on it.
I made about 40 cupcakes with my best friend for the nurses and doctors yesterday and brought them to work today. I won't have time in the next 3 days to do so, so I took them with me today.
3 more days!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Operation Update!
To date I have been to a total knee replacement (both legs) and Skin-resurfacing (if you want to call it that). The surgeons of the knee operation were pretty funny. It was so much different than a OBGYN operation. Here they were hammering, sawing, drilling....so cool! The male nurse explained a lot for me which was really nice of him. The main surgeon didn't really know who I was because he came in after I had introduced myself to everyone. I didn't really want to shout into the middle of the operation and be like "Um, Hi, would you like to explain stuff.....!?".
The skin resurfacing operation was 4 hours long and the beginning was super interesting because the patient had skin missing from their last operation and the muscles were basically free! The bulk of the operation was spent transplanting their own skin and sewing up. I was pretty dead after standing for so long.
I talked to the surgeon afterward and he invited me to watch some of his other operations on Tuesday (tomorrow!). I called the next day to ask if I could scrub in and he said yes!!! Let's see what I actually end up getting to do. I will post (this time a bit quicker hopefully).
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