Well, dont be alarmed by the title ! I dont intend the least to pen down here the facts which surgery posting taught me...to be a li'l more 'coming right to the point' , i jus wanted to put down certain things i adsorbed during the posting :)
I'm through the last week of my Surgery Review Postings now and i'm at present in the S5 unit with a unit chief, an assistant Prof and a final year P.G. And we are a batch of just 4 students.
When we got permission to be in this unit from the HOD quite out of the blue , even though the fact remained that we had our usual 2 month posting in another unit ( S2 ), it came pretty much like a boon for us and quite a matter of jealousy for the others :p. For our previous unit was sort of a let down when it came to teaching matters. And for the same reason not one of us wanted to be subjected to the brunt of the staff shortage once again and that too in the eleventh hour !
And thus, our prayer for long was answered and we managed to get our tickets to this precious unit. And as general notion, the unit happened to be heaven ! ( speaking absolutely and relatively! ) with the teachers chasing us for the classes in the wards, in the O.T and in the O.P ! Teaching us loads which come to measure more than what we managed to stuff in during our previous posting ! The previously long and monotonous hours in the O.T as mere spectators turned to some sort of extra learning hours, for you remember more things that you learn by seeing than by imagining right. You dont find that sort of commitment in all nor do you find such kind of One On One attention in all departments. Blame the shortage of staff or the mindset of the existing staff ! But lets not also leave out the fact that doctors even though they are trained to be good teachers also in addition to their profession, not all would be happy with the idea of wasting their time teaching when it remains that the sole purpose of being a doc is a lot more divine ! But what they forget is that they are paid for teaching medical students and we are depositing in the Govt fund for them to enlighten us !
And as the situation remains debatable and varied in consistency finding yourself lucky to be sharing space in a gem of a unit is a Boon or what ! :)
Oh btw, coming to what the posting and the doctors here directly or indirectly taught me - I assume its unwise to name who said what :p.. So lemme put it down as a mix of valuable tips from the experienced minds of a few good doctors ;)
1 ) You are in anyways more useful to others when you are calm and composed. And if a doctor isnt useful to a patient then who else would be !
2) You master only by patience and practice. Practice in the sense repeated reading and experience. And your work speaks for the patient manipulation of your skill ! I found myself admiring the surgical precision and beauty of the procedure when it was done by one such doc today :)
3) There isnt any unwritten idiom that a good doctor neednt be a good teacher. A good doctor can make a splendid teacher as well !
4) Lastly 2 tips for the viva ;)
- Language is Magic for it can even end up as the life savour during the viva ! :D
- Remember , The one who is sitting infront of you maynt be knowing everything even thou he is the one at the helm ! So just be loud, clear and confident ! :) you can do wonders in a viva ;)
And thats it...the core - yea i'm learning the basics of surgery and indirectly i'm learning to be a good adsorbent and not the least, a good doctor :)
