Scrubbing in

After a long and luxurious 2 week summer holiday (ok it was rather a short and busy holiday as I spent time visiting family and working at Leeds Festival as a first aider). I've been back at the grindstone for 4 weeks in another new specialty block. This time it's the turn of orthopaedics (bones) and anaesthetics (putting people to sleep)!

Ortho a refreshing change from the constant theory of medicine - the patients problem is usually pretty simple to diagnose (a quick history, exam and x-ray- you can have an answer in 10 minutes) and the treatment often involves either a plaster cast or the use of power tools rather than complicated drugs mechanisms.

Anaesthetics on the other hand is a lot about the complicated drugs - I appreciate Anaesthetists have a big responsibility (making sure you are fit for surgery, and keeping you alive and as pain free as possible before and for a while afterwards) but for the most part once they've drifted you away to sleep they do indeed shave time to sit doing the crossword (or watching the rugby on their ipad!).

This block has also given me my first chance to scrub in on major surgery and even stitch up the patients afterwards. I'm not set on being a surgeon but there is something invigorating about it (in small doses). It's nice to not have to think quite so much and to actually do!

I'll be sure to miss all this doing when I head to my next specialty. Psych! (eurgh...)