Emergency Surgery Archives - THE ROVING DOCTOR

Added on October 18, 2020 Foundation Year 1 , Emergency Surgery

Emergency Surgery – Journal Entries

I.I.VII JOURNAL ENTRIES Journal entries from my rotation in emergency surgery: I’ve been paged for a cannula. I go into the patient’s room and I’m immediately struck by the fresh aroma of cigarettes as I witness the patient in visible respiratory distress. “Were you smoking, by any chance?” I ask. She’s almost offended by my question. I go down on […]

Added on August 25, 2020 Foundation Year 1 , Emergency Surgery

Unravelling

I.I.VI UNRAVELLING By the end of those three months, I genuinely felt like I was finally a full-fledged doctor. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I still realised I knew nothing and that I was still an idiot on the grand scheme of things. Be that as it may, over those three months not only had I survived such a […]

Added on August 18, 2020 Foundation Year 1 , Emergency Surgery

Transition

I.I.V TRANSITION As much as the work varied, days started to blend in. What at the very beginning seemed so out of reach had become somewhat routine as time went by. In fact, by the time I got used to this routine, my rotation in emergency surgery was about to be over. And by the end? Let’s just say that […]

Added on August 11, 2020 Foundation Year 1 , Emergency Surgery

Turbulence

I.I.IV TURBULENCE Okay, I’m gonna start this off with a little disclaimer. This part’s gonna be about toxic professional relationships. You might feel as though someone else is writing this – a spiteful, evil little Grinch spewing all kinds of negativity. But it’s part of my story. And as one-sided and biased as this might sound, I do realise everyone […]

Added on August 4, 2020 Foundation Year 1 , Emergency Surgery

Trial By Fire

I.I.III TRIAL BY FIRE I was one of the lucky few to have my first on-call shift at the end of the week. This way, I had a glimpse of what I could expect from fellow colleagues who recounted their tales. Judging from what I had heard, I should’ve been scared crapless before my first one. Some had to deal […]

Added on July 28, 2020 Foundation Year 1 , Emergency Surgery

Head Start

I.I.II HEAD START As I figured, my classmates-now-colleagues were pretty much in the same boat. We definitely weren’t in Kansas anymore. Some got off on the wrong foot with their firms, some couldn’t quite find their footing, and some would put their foot in their mouth at every given chance. Basically, feet weren’t on our side when we started off. […]

Added on July 21, 2020 Foundation Year 1 , Emergency Surgery

Emergency Surgery – First Day

I.I.I FIRST DAY Emergency surgery… my first rotation ever. Ah, what a time that was. One of the best and worst periods of my life, I gotta say. After two weeks of shadowing the other house officers and trying to learn as much as possible about how the hospital works, it was finally time for them to move on and […]