Issue 7 – Volume 2 – March 2017
by Chelsea Uy
What can surgical rotations possibly teach you that you can’t learn yourself during a weekend binge-a-thon of Scrubs or House? According to TV, hospitals are full of genetically blessed individuals, every case is an emergency and interns are allowed to perform complicated surgery sans supervision. However there are profound lessons for medical students to learn in even the most dramatic medical TV show - provided you watch enough episodes, of course.
Here are the five lessons from TV I have learnt about being a good surgeon:
1. Always be nice to the nurses
If I could bold and underline the heck out of this one, I would. And I have. You have probably already heard this on placement or rotation, because nurses play an integral part in patient care. They wear many hats: communicator, decision maker and care giver among them. If there is information you need, chances are that a nurse will be able to tell you. They definitely do not get enough credit, so make sure you treat them with respect!
2. “Medicine” isn’t always the answer
Yes, you do get bonus points for caring (that’s kind of your job). Sometimes a patient needs someone to listen to them and empathise with their circumstances, whether it’s a medical illness or not. You’ll find yourself managing the care of patients and their families who are suffering, and you’ll have to learn to work with them professionally without getting too emotionally attached. That’s a skill that doesn’t come easy, but it’s an important one.
3. You can’t do it alone
J.D and Turk, Meredith and Christina, House and... his underlings? Okay, even if they were his underlings, he still needed them. When he didn’t have them, he would settle for a janitor. The point is that you need a solid groupof friends because nobody else is going to understand when you’re tearing your hair out at an unreasonable hour over a patient with an atypical presentation. You will work hard. Without breaks. Or sleep.
Under unbelievably stressful conditions, and it’s important to have people to lean on.
Under unbelievably stressful conditions, and it’s important to have people to lean on.
4. You’ll never learn if you don’t try
You won’t always be right and that is a fact we all need to learn to accept. While you’re at it, you probably want to work on accepting that you will feel like a fish out of water on a regular basis. Everybody has to start at the bottom, but don’t be afraid to put yourself out there - it’s the only way you’ll get anywhere.
5. Being a surgeon isn’t an easy career path
Being a surgeon is committing to learning for the rest of your life. There will always be new technologies to integrate and journal articles to read. You will work for years to achieve your goals, and you will find yourself at a table with your laptop, iPad, several pages of notes and a cup of coffee at 2am more than once. And yes, chances are, you are going to question your choices.
Being a surgeon means never giving up on your goals.
While I wouldn’t recommend basing your list of differential diagnoses off what you learnt watching House – it’s probably not lupus - medical shows have something to teach us all. Working in the medical field is one of the hardest gigs out there, but don’t forget to remind yourself of all the good you’ll do. You will meet people on their worst day imaginable and they will turn to you for help. You will meet people on the best day of their lives and you will be there to help celebrate. Yes, it will be difficult - but it’ll be worth it.
Chelsea Uy is a second year medical student. She enjoys strong cups of coffee and romantic strolls down the snack food aisle.
