Kat Burgett (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} inked_caduceus) wrote,@ 2008-03-29 13:25:00 |
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Day 3.283 - Flashbacks to senior year
In 2005, my mom started sending me videotapes labeled "Grey's Anatomy", a show I had to see, because I was applying to medical schools at the time. For a wide-eyed pre med, it was amazing. Causes of post-op fever? Chem 7 and Trauma pages? I was in love. I had never cottoned on to ER during high school, but this was a medical show that was interesting.
Of course, there's a multitude of reasons why the show is ridiculous; the number one reason I cite is that no surgeon has time for that much sex. Second is that there aren't hospital issue scrubs on this green earth that are that flattering.
But now that I'm re-watching the first season, and finding things are just a little bit true. Surgical interns and students do get badass trauma pages; superwoman Jenn showed me the text page that came in: type 1 trauma (blunt force)with a GCS of 13, BP of 154/90, HR of 99, SaO2 of 97%.
The character of Dr. Bailey is actually pretty interesting. My senior resident for the cardiothoracic service was K, a fast-moving figure who wanted stuff done and done right. She also had unbelievable skills, sewing up wounds with amazing precision. Other students can attest to the women in the field; tough, but fair and generally without ego. It's still true that surgery is a boy's club; in a team of 10, I was the only female.
And yes, I had an intern who was pretty much Alex Karev.
Surgery is tough and sexy and everything else people think it is. The people who become surgeons are hardcore, dealing with long and demanding hours. After you pay your dues, you can say things like "We'll use bypass so we can fix the defect in the heart".
I sometimes look at Jenn and G, who chose the hardest surgical rotation and the most demanding team (the infamous Lucas and Ledgerwood, a male/female team of surgeons at the DMC who are giants in the surgical world) with a twinge of jealousy. They're involved with work that goes into journals, work that with world-wide fame.
Jenn and G want to be cowboys. I do too, in my own way; but my stories "The patient's lactate was 10!" don't carry the same weight as "Yeah, we built her a new ear out of cartilage after the accident".
I will say this, at least: my gen surgery resident last month looked more than a little bit like George Clooney. I'll file that away as the closest I'll ever get to the Hollywood version of medicine. :)
In 2005, my mom started sending me videotapes labeled "Grey's Anatomy", a show I had to see, because I was applying to medical schools at the time. For a wide-eyed pre med, it was amazing. Causes of post-op fever? Chem 7 and Trauma pages? I was in love. I had never cottoned on to ER during high school, but this was a medical show that was interesting.
Of course, there's a multitude of reasons why the show is ridiculous; the number one reason I cite is that no surgeon has time for that much sex. Second is that there aren't hospital issue scrubs on this green earth that are that flattering.
But now that I'm re-watching the first season, and finding things are just a little bit true. Surgical interns and students do get badass trauma pages; superwoman Jenn showed me the text page that came in: type 1 trauma (blunt force)with a GCS of 13, BP of 154/90, HR of 99, SaO2 of 97%.
The character of Dr. Bailey is actually pretty interesting. My senior resident for the cardiothoracic service was K, a fast-moving figure who wanted stuff done and done right. She also had unbelievable skills, sewing up wounds with amazing precision. Other students can attest to the women in the field; tough, but fair and generally without ego. It's still true that surgery is a boy's club; in a team of 10, I was the only female.
And yes, I had an intern who was pretty much Alex Karev.
Surgery is tough and sexy and everything else people think it is. The people who become surgeons are hardcore, dealing with long and demanding hours. After you pay your dues, you can say things like "We'll use bypass so we can fix the defect in the heart".
I sometimes look at Jenn and G, who chose the hardest surgical rotation and the most demanding team (the infamous Lucas and Ledgerwood, a male/female team of surgeons at the DMC who are giants in the surgical world) with a twinge of jealousy. They're involved with work that goes into journals, work that with world-wide fame.
Jenn and G want to be cowboys. I do too, in my own way; but my stories "The patient's lactate was 10!" don't carry the same weight as "Yeah, we built her a new ear out of cartilage after the accident".
I will say this, at least: my gen surgery resident last month looked more than a little bit like George Clooney. I'll file that away as the closest I'll ever get to the Hollywood version of medicine. :)
