My surgery rotation at Woodhall started off with the clearance process and I feel it was executed in an extremely unorganized fashion. We went to the orientation a few weeks before the start of the rotation, and it was mainly focused on medical students there, not at all helpful for the PA students who also attended. I had a ton of questions and throughout the orientation I found it was a challenge to ask even a single question. I feel this was mostly due to the fact that Ms. Cook was leaving the job and the new person new person was not completely ready to take on the position. On the day of the orientation, ID’s were distributed to meds students, but not to PA students, forms were handed without much guidance, and PA student were not given  any directions on how obtain usernames/ passwords, or IDs. After many emails, phone calls, and running around on the first day of rotations we were told we couldn’t start our rotation because we didn’t have IDs (ID machine was broken). Disappointed we went up to meet with Ms. Bake (admin assistant) who then helped us out by making some phone calls. I am very thankful to Ms. Blake for guiding us on how and where to get scrubs and  requesting that we get temporary ID’s so we could start our rotation the same day. She was very helpful and did so much to make the process easier on us. She even called our preceptor and directed us on how to find him.

The hospital is huge, and most doors require ID access which we (the PA students) did not have because our IDs were temporary at the time. After some trouble getting in and out of units ( Phapia and I) met with our preceptor PA Shlomo, who then gave us some more guidance on how to navigate the hospital ( since it has a unique system), find the residents, and provided us with a schedule to follow. Feeling a little more in control we went on to find the resident we were to work with that day. After we introduced ourselves to the resident he  invited us to accompany him for a few consults. The rest of the day went rather smoothly as we helped with dressing changes, debridement of a sacral ulcers, and even changed some unna boots at the vascular clinic. Before we left the resident expressed his gratitude and told us we were great PA students. I left the rotation  pleased with our first day experience and was very excited to return the next day. From this experience I learned that even if you face hardships during your rotations, it is important not to get discouraged and become anxious, since that would not make the situation any better. By staying calm and collective you are able to overcome even the most stress full of situations.

The next few weeks we were in general surgery working side by side with 6 medical students and 4 residents. The first thing I did was make friends with the med students, since we were going to be working together for the many weeks to come. I feel that it is extremely important to have a good relationship with the people you are working with, especially since good communication is the key to providing effective treatment to patients. We were immediately added to their group chat, and this helped us alert one another in important situations. It also was helpful in distributing surgeries (on OR days), choosing clinics (on clinic day), and alerting/reminding one another about important meetings/presentations. Everyone was very kind and helpful at this rotation especially our preceptor. He was always available when we had questions and made sure we knew where to go or who to be with each day.

What I like the most about our preceptor was he would call us for an evaluation every 2 weeks to see if we were in fact learning at the rotation. During the rotation we presented two separate H&Ps, after which he spent a good amount of time asking questions about differentials and treatment plan. The meetings were very informal and allowed me to open up about what we understood. He took time out of his schedule to teach me common topics that come up on exams and give me tips on how to study/ remember certain topics. He provided a comfortable environment and invited questions, to which he provided simplified explanations. As students we tend to stay quiet and refrain from asking questions fearing that the questions may make us sound unintelligent. By providing a comfortable environment and inviting questions he allowed me to express my questions/concerns without the fear of sounding dumb. I found this experience with our preceptor to be extremely helpful in making me a more competent PA, I hope to be less fearful during future rotations and will attempt to ask more questions when needed.

During the rotation we spent four weeks in general surgery and one week in subspecialties. During the four weeks of general surgery two days of the week were dedicated to the different clinics ( ortho, vascular, breast, and general surgery clinics). On other days we saw patients on the floor, went to the OR, and accompanied the resident during consult/bedside procedures. The rotation provided a wide variety of exposure to different surgical conditions, which was great. I was able to see the multiple roles of a surgery PA, and also understand how to manage patients with the different presentations that may require surgical intervention.

The OR experience was also very rewarding at this rotation. I was able to scrub in on multiple lap cholecystectomies, hernia repairs, and appendectomies. The surgeries I enjoyed the most had to be the ORTHO surgeries (total knee replacements and ORIF’s) I scrubbed in on. I had never thought I would enjoy first assisting in a an ortho surgery until this rotation. It was such an exciting experience, which I will never forget. Assisting in the ortho surgeries taught me how much I enjoyed I enjoyed the art of orthopedics surgeries, which was something I never expected. Overall, this was an excellent rotation and I am thankful to have completed it at Woodhall hospital.

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