Floating
II.II.VI
FLOATING
As time went by, our situation in the neurosurgical department improved somewhat. Whereas before it was us house officers and a single higher specialist trainee (HST) keeping the department running, we now had two shiny, brand-new HSTs – Gary and Bob.
Having only just started, they weren’t quite exceptional yet, but at least they managed to offload some of our work, giving Christa, Jacqueline, and me some much-needed respite. We also started using the spreadsheet religiously, which made it far easier to keep track of everything going on in the department. To this day, I’m convinced that creating that spreadsheet was my single greatest contribution to medicine. By then, I had a spreadsheet for almost every aspect of my life – my agenda, finances, workout programme, meal plan, shopping list, packing list, bucket list, and probably a spreadsheet to keep track of all the spreadsheets. And now my obsession managed to infiltrate my workplace. Man, I love Excel.
Just like that, we fell into a good rhythm. For the first time, we were sometimes able to enjoy the luxury of a coffee or even a proper lunch break. And, finally, I’d be able to get some time in the operating room.
All the while, Christa had been making me all kinds of promises about the procedures she’d let me assist with. On my very first day, I’d managed to scrub in and assist with an external ventricular drain (EVD) insertion. That was the first and only time I’d made it to the operating room. Sure, I was always encouraged to attend whenever I wanted, but given our workload – and my exhaustion after a full day on the wards – it never felt like a realistic option.
But now? Now I finally had time. And this was the perfect moment for Christa to deliver. When a lady came in with a subdural haematoma – a collection of blood beneath the skull, compressing the brain – she promised I could do the burr hole, a small hole drilled into the skull to allow the blood to drain and relieve pressure. And lemme tell ya, drilling into someone’s skull is an experience unlike any other – a high I’d never felt before.
It wasn’t just the procedure that got me going though – it was the feeling of belonging, like neurosurgery was actually my calling. I couldn’t help smiling and tearing up throughout the entire surgery. I’m pretty sure that day ranks among my all-time top five.
I have to admit that having Gary and Bob on board changed things around. It felt like we could finally ease up and allow ourselves to unwind.
Apart from the fact that I got to go to Scotland for the Basic Surgical Skills course – my second trip in just one month, I also started prioritising other important aspects of my life. I could now focus more on my writing – having been published for the very first time. I could actually go back to reading a book – something I hadn’t done since my time in Gozo. And I could also start working out and eating healthier once again – managing to regain the six kilograms I had lost during that rotation by the end.
I also had more time to dedicate to medicine. With the end of my Foundation Programme in sight, I needed to beef up my resume as much as possible. Apart from attending more courses and conferences, I also started studying for the MRCS Part B exam, having just passed Part A. This was nothing short of a Herculean task – one usually undertaken by basic specialist trainees preparing to apply for higher surgical training posts.
The way I saw it, I had nothing to lose – apart from the €1,000 application fee – and plenty to gain, including the possibility of swapping my Dr title for that of Mr. Fun fact: surgeons in the UK and many Commonwealth countries use Mr, Ms, or Mx instead of Dr, a tradition rooted in history, when surgeons were tradespeople – often barber-surgeons – and distinct from university-educated physicians. Ironically, anyone training to become a surgeon eventually starts seeing the title of Dr as more of a nuisance than an honour.
Back to the exam. I figured that even though there was a high likelihood I’d fail, regardless of the outcome, the knowledge I’d gain simply by studying for it would undoubtedly improve my medical practice. And so, I decided to just go for it.