Scrub, Scrub, Scrub

I've confirmed that I'm definitely not going to be an orthopaedic surgeon, but I'm still managing to thoroughly enjoy my week in orthopaedics. Funnily enough, the orthopods are the nicest group of doctors I've met in the hospital yet - who'd've thunk it! They are lovely to everyone - nurses, other staff, other doctors, patients, even us mere students - and consistently appear genuinely interested in teaching.

I scrubbed in for the first time yesterday, which was quite an ordeal. The procedure was a total knee replacement, so as well as the standard gown and gloves I also had to put on a visor with a hood to shield myself from the spatter that happens when the surgeons are sawing and drilling - you pretty much end up looking like you're wearing a hazmat suit. When scrubbing in, I felt that I must pretty much be the clumsiest person ever. There's a very particular way of putting on the gown, whereby you have to make sure your hands are still inside the sleeves (so they're not out the cuffs at the end), and then somehow get your gloves on over the cuff and wriggle your hand out into it. Quite tricky! And because I am particularly talented, I managed to get my second layer of gloves on the wrong hands!

The operation was really interesting to watch. One of the surgeons, who is also the director of the department, said that it's pretty much like carpentry, and I certainly saw what he meant. They use so many different tools, and do up lots of jigs to make sure they're getting the angle right.

As well as getting my first experiences in an operating theatre, I'm also getting loads of practice looking at x-rays, CTs and MRIs - which is invaluable to me, considering I'm so bad at interpreting them. It's much more interesting to look at them when it's in a clinical context, and I'm finding that gradually I'm getting better at picking up what isn't quite right about an image. I've certainly still got a long way to go, though!

On another note, I'm missing MBF so much! While I am really enjoying myself here, and learning a lot, I'm also glad to be going home to him soon. We've planned a week away at the beach next month, which we're both really looking forward to. Our apartment has our own private spa, which will be quite a treat, I'm sure!