Island Med Student

This week was my first opportunity to shadow a physician at the hospital. Each group of students was assigned to a specific specialty. I had previously requested surgery, but I was assigned to anesthesiology. But that was no matter, because I spent all morning in the operating theatre (operating room) nonetheless. It was absolutely amazing! I had been a patient in the OR before, but I’d never actually seen the inside of an OR as a med student. I witnessed five different surgeries in the span of about four hours. I have to admit that the process of putting on the facemask and cap was quite exciting for me. I’ve been looking forward to this for years. Even though all I did was stand there (and look like a confused little med student), I felt quite privileged.

I kept thinking how surreal the whole experience was. I’ve had the dream of becoming a doctor for years, and I’ve always been very fascinated by surgery. Yet there I was, actually standing in the OR, watching a surgeon carefully and gracefully glide his scalpel through the patient’s skin. I know many of you reading this have probably seen thousands of surgeries. But please understand that this was my very first time seeing one on an actual living, breathing human! I was so thrilled that I found myself actually shaking at one point.

After one of the surgeries, the surgeon began grilling us on the anatomy of the larynx. The three other med students just stood there, without daring to answer his questions. I finally piped up and tried my best to answer his questions, knowing that I didn’t completely know what I was talking about. Although I didn’t do the best job of answering the question, I think the surgeon appreciated the fact that I was willing to at least say something, even though I knew it might make me look like an idiot.

That afternoon, we switched doctors and my group of students was assigned to an internist. After just a short introduction, he left us with a patient. We were expected to get a history and do a full physical exam on him. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, it was our very first time doing so; hence we were all a bit nervous and clumsy as we figured out what to do.

Luckily, the patient was super cooperative and I think things went well. The language barriers continue to be an issue here, however. The man was a Carib Indian (Caribs are the last indigenous people of the Caribbean), and he used many phrases that were difficult for me to understand. However, I did my very best to take his history, and we all took part in doing the physical exam.

So, I guess you can say that my hospital visit was a huge success. I’m actually starting to feel like I may have learned a thing or two in med school. Yet, I’m still pretty apprehensive and nervous about the huge gaping holes in my medical knowledge and expertise. I just hope that everyone is correct when they tell me that everything will come to me in time.

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