UBC Objectives: Surgical + Procedural Skills

By the end of postgraduate training, using a patient-centred approach and appropriate selectivity, a resident, considering the patient’s cultural and gender contexts, will be able to...

• Provide proficient surgical assistance

Today was the last day of my Obstetrics & Gynecology rotation at St Paul's Hospital, and am I ever glad to be done. It was hard work! I did enjoy it, at least parts of it, but I will not miss waking up at 5 AM every morning to round on the obstetrical ward. My alarm is set for 7:30 tomorrow morning, heaven!

At this point in time, I do feel I want to deliver babies (a concept I considered violent and unholy before starting residency), but I have no interest in being a surgical assist (with the exception of assisting with emergency c-sections in women for whom I am providing peripartum care). I can do it, as I did for a vaginal hysterectomy today (after which I was invited back by the surgery to provide further assistance, but was saved by the bell of my pager to asses a woman in labour), or for the laparoscopic hysterectomy and bilateral salpingoopherectomy I assisted with yesterday, but it is not my cup of tea. However, being a medical student means taking part in all aspects of medicine even in areas that are your least favourite, for basic learning and exposure. And if you are a family medicine resident, it pretty much means to do that all over again. Partly it makes some sense, as more exposure to all aspects of medicine help to nurture the well-rounded primary care practitioner. I've made it through my month of obstetrics and gynecology, and now I'll have two weeks of general surgery to conquer, my last 2 weeks of necessary time in an operating room in residency (and possibly ever). It is what it is. On the other hand, while it is my natural inclination to sigh and begrudge the whole process, I want to instead choose to face these next two weeks with an attitude of opportunity. If I use these two weeks strategically, I could really get a lot out of practicing sewing skills in the operating room and managing really sick patients, so I am told by my senior colleagues. 

In preparation for providing assistance in the OR while in medical school, I encountered this article online that simplified the process. Despite the fact that it was written for medical learners in the UK, and hence has various details that are irrelevant when preparing for nuances of the Canadian OR, the concepts are all very well the same, and I was glad to have encountered it ahead of time. The whole website, Geeky Medics - albeit designed more so for the medical student level - provides great intros to various clinical approaches in medicine.