{"id":732,"date":"2015-04-09T08:40:02","date_gmt":"2015-04-09T12:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/?p=732"},"modified":"2015-04-09T01:35:29","modified_gmt":"2015-04-09T05:35:29","slug":"a-guide-to-the-operating-room-for-medical-students-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-sterile-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/a-guide-to-the-operating-room-for-medical-students-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-sterile-field\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to the Operating Room for Medical Students Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Sterile Field"},"content":{"rendered":"

The summer between MS1 and MS2 I did a research project with an orthopedic surgeon at my school.\u00a0 Part of the project had me observing in the operating room (OR) a few days a week, watching procedures and helping with any tasks that came up.\u00a0 This experience was actually my first time being in an OR, and I was pretty nervous leading up to it.\u00a0 I had heard horror stories about students breaking sterility, knocking over solution bottles, and generally making fools of themselves in front of important people.\u00a0 While I tried my best not to do anything foolish or embarrassing, it was oftentimes very hard to avoid.\u00a0 Slowly, I become more confident in the OR, and the blunders came further and further apart.\u00a0 As a service to all the pre-meds and un-initiated med students, I now present a short list of important things to know before your first OR experience.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Figure out the rules<\/strong>.\u00a0 Surgeons love rules, and at times it seems as if they have a weird fascination with them.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t ask then the rules are never really explained to you, and you will be in big trouble when you break one.\u00a0 Consequently, I think it\u2019s prudent to ask someone what the rules are.\u00a0 Considering your fear of talking to the surgeon, he or she isn\u2019t the best option.\u00a0 The resident or intern is probably too sleep-deprived and hopped-up on caffeine to notice you.\u00a0 Your best bet is to ask one of the circulating nurses or other students who have been on the service for a while.\u00a0 Believe me, it will save you a lot of trouble later on.<\/li>\n
  2. Make sure you\u2019re dressed appropriately<\/strong>.\u00a0 Make sure everything you\u2019re supposed to wear is on correctly.\u00a0 Make a mental note of scrubs, cap, mask, and boots.\u00a0 Aside from actually wearing the right attire, please make sure you are wearing it correctly.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to feel really stupid when someone points out that your cap is on crooked, or that you forgot to tie half of your mask.\u00a0 You will also be the butt of many jokes over the next few days when you aren\u2019t there.\u00a0 In addition to knowing what to wear, it is also important to know what not to wear.\u00a0 Don\u2019t wear shoes that you actually like, unless you think it\u2019s cool to have fecal matter on your $100 Sperry\u2019s.\u00a0 Also, leave the personal items and accessories at home.\u00a0 While that puka shell necklace you made in 10th grade art class may be \u201ctotally rad, bro,\u201d it is definitely a sterility hazard and you definitely shouldn\u2019t bring it into the OR.\u00a0 Also, if you\u2019re still wearing puka shell necklaces in your mid-20s you should probably re-evaluate your life choices.<\/li>\n
  3. Know where the sterile field is and how to avoid it<\/strong>.\u00a0 This rule only applies if you\u2019re not scrubbed in, and the decision of whether or not you get to scrub should have decided before you show up.\u00a0 Anyway, just remember that the sterile field should be avoided like the plague.\u00a0 Any blue towel or covering should send off warning signals in your head.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get close to it, don\u2019t breathe on it, and don\u2019t even really look at it if you don\u2019t have to.\u00a0 Don\u2019t try to be cute either and inch your way as close as possible, because the scrub nurse will call you out and you will be embarrassed.<\/li>\n
  4. Try to look interested even when you\u2019re not<\/strong>.\u00a0 After the 5th time seeing the same surgery, it\u2019s only human nature to get a little disinterested.\u00a0 There are only so many times you can be mystified by a hernia repair, and you\u2019ve probably passed that threshold long ago.\u00a0 It is imperative, however, that you look interested at all times.\u00a0 Surgeons have an innate ability, almost like boredom-radar, to tell when you are dozing off or doing something else.\u00a0 These situations usually end up in you getting pimped mercilessly in front of everyone.\u00a0 To make matters worse, you don\u2019t come off looking like a shining star when your response to the first question is \u201cHuh?\u201d\u00a0 You can typically avoid these situations by employing certain maneuvers that indicate \u201cinterest.\u201d\u00a0 My go-to method was switching sides of the OR every 20 minutes to get a new \u201cviewing-angle.\u201d\u00a0 Another tried and tested one is intently looking at the monitors or camera.\u00a0 Find what method works for you, and stick to it.<\/li>\n
  5. If you\u2019re not scrubbed in, find yourself a role<\/strong>.\u00a0 Surgeons dislike idle people.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing worse you can do than to just stand in the same place in the OR doing nothing.\u00a0 Find a job you can do, and be amazing at it.\u00a0 Like to record information?\u00a0 Write down the incision and closing times.\u00a0 Like to clean?\u00a0 Become the best darn disinfectant wipe user ever.\u00a0 Like to retrieve things?\u00a0 Be the person who looks up and prints all the obscure research papers the surgeon even tangentially mentions during the procedure.\u00a0 Note:\u00a0 If you choose the last one, be prepared for incessant pimping later.\u00a0 Remember folks, nothing is without consequence, so choose your punishment wisely.<\/li>\n
  6. Prepare yourself for the spectacle that is a patient waking-up post-op<\/strong>.\u00a0 This is the part that you never hear about or even see on those dramatized TV shows about surgery.\u00a0 A patient waking up from anesthesia is most definitely not pleasant.\u00a0 Prepare yourselves for all sorts of near disasters.\u00a0 Patients will try to pull out breathing tubes, or roll over onto joints that have just been operated on.\u00a0 Some will even try to get out of the bed, as they don\u2019t realize where they are for the first few minutes.\u00a0 People will often kick out their arms and legs, and if they aren\u2019t stabilized someone on the team is bound to get a black eye.\u00a0 The best thing you can do is to be aware of the possibilities, and find out how the team handles such situations.<\/li>\n
  7. Find a place to store food for post-op consumption<\/strong>.\u00a0 We have finally reached the pinnacle, the crown jewel of my OR guide.\u00a0 Don\u2019t pay attention to the fact that this rule actually doesn\u2019t correspond to anything taking place in the OR.\u00a0 After spending countless hours in the OR, the first thing on your mind will be food.\u00a0 No matter how mundane or exciting the procedure was, human need for nutritional sustenance will take over.\u00a0 Make sure you have a safe storage spot for food, whether it is in the clinical workroom or in the students\u2019 lounge.\u00a0 Also, considering that everyone you will be working with (read: vultures) will also be voraciously hungry and will have no problem eating anything lying around, make sure you keep your food in a place only you can find it.\u00a0 Invest in a locker and a lock if your facilities have them.\u00a0 You\u2019ll thank me for this advice later.\u00a0 You\u2019re welcome, by the way.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Featured image:
    \nCPMC Surgery by Artur Bergman<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The summer between MS1 and MS2 I did a research project with an orthopedic surgeon at my school.\u00a0 Part of the project had me observing in the operating room (OR) a few days a week, watching procedures and helping with any tasks that came up.\u00a0 This experience was actually my first time being in an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[15,139,13],"tags":[137,136,138],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":734,"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732\/revisions\/734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themspress.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}