Well, I must say that my last two weeks in orthopaedics have been great. I saw many very common problems, a few not so common, I got to scrub in and assist numerous times. This leaves me a little confused, as out of all the specialties to do, I thought ortho would be my least favourite - I am not very sporty, never really had much sympathy for guys (or girls) who do stupid things and end up with impressive, yet completely preventable injuries.
Then again. I saw many average people just like me who really were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saw how debilitating a musculoskeletal problem can be, how it is mostly amenable to surgery (the skeleton is remarkably resilient and partially self repairs) and how greatful (mostly) patients are when you intervene. I realised, it was no worse than the guy that keeps puting drugs in his veins, smoke on his lungs or alcohol in his liver - patients often have hang ups. What makes sports worse? If anything it is a negative outcome from a potentially less harmful activity. [I am still yet to find strong evidence that exercise is good for you (apart from a gentle stroll etc) - anything more intense often ends in fractures, arthritis, torn ligaments and so on...]
What I did learn is once you learn the anatomy (which is a LOT of work) surgery is fun, you get to fix problems with almost instant gratification and orthopods aren't all knuckle draggers as often portrayed. All in all a great experience!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment