Being a hardcore surgical fan I enjoyed the whole rotation even more than I expected, but over all, surgical residency can be a tough time. At least it can in India, where there are no working hour regulations. I have seen PG-1 and 2 working for at least 48-72 hours in a week and that sometimes feels terrible.

Let’s leave the complexities of general surgery and have a look at the fascinations that this field has. I was assigned a unit to attend my rotations. We had four junior residents, two chief residents and five interns, all being supervised by one junior and one senior consultant.

On the very first day I went without breakfast (but never repeated this mistake again!) as I realize that rounds start sharp at 8.00 am and no late entries are allowed. I didn’t have my first meal of the day until 9.30 pm and by then I was so hungry I was having stomach cramps. I felt that I must have been depleted of whatever little glycogen I managed to store in my liver during my last rotation of community medicine!

My first patient was an elderly person with difficulty in micturition and thinning of stream. As one would think, it was a case of BPH. Shortly afterwards I found out that the patient was posted for OT the following day. By the time I arrived the next morning I was aware that my case was already inside the OT. After looking through case records I realized that the patient had a voluminous prostate and was scheduled for open prostatectomy rather than TURP. I stood inside the OT wondering at the dexterity of the operating surgeons, carrying out the tedious job of removing the problem (prostate) from the patient.

This scene, at times, evoked strong doubt in my mind as to whether I would be able to do these things with such perfection at some point in my life. Then I realized that it’s not a gift that the doctors have received or something that they have acquired overnight, it is the result of hard work and the days and nights they have spent caring for their patients
 
Off Duty
You must be joking if you think that I will have a lot to write for this section! The busy rotation has helped me realize that med students and residents don’t have something called an “off call” life, rather, ‘calls’ become an integrated part of their life..

For most of this month I read about minor surgical procedures. This all looked very simple to me until I tried doing it in a basic skills laboratory!

One great thing about this month was that whenever our unit had a lighter work day we all (including residents) would go out and taste some of the finest food available in the city.

I watched a few good movies that were released during the month, but rarely managed to go to the movie theatre, although I didn’t mind because I was happy to watch all of these on my PC.

But bad times were lurking ahead…, I was ill with a viral fever in the last week and it happened at a time when a meningococcemia epidemic was at its peak in Delhi. Just to add to things, the surgical ward which I was posted in was situated right below the disaster ward created for meningococcemia, so I spent an initial few days hoping that the fever was not meningococcemia. Thankfully it wasn’t!

I think that’s enough for the time being, what with the little energy I have right now. My surgical rotation continues in June, so I will save the rest til until next time.