The good news is not only did I pass all of my first block exams (Small Animal Medicine II, Large Animal Medicine, and Small Animal Surgery) I got A's on all of them. My best score was a 96% in LAM. I am very pleased that putting the extra effort in to really listen and be more of a participant during class is paying off.
The bad news is that today's Rossie surgical skills check lab didn't go well. It's the first of four skills check labs where we have to get signed off on our skills before being allowed to take the Rossie. There were five stations and we rotated in groups of three through them.
1. Aseptic gowning, gloving, quarter draping and draping. I verrrrry nearly passed this station, but failed on account of the front of my gown touching the table one time. I'm serious, that's how strict it is.
2. Ligation of a subcutaneous bleeder, abdominal wall incision and use of the snook hook to find and withdraw one of the ovarian horns. Again, almost passed this one. My ligation was perfect, my abdominal wall incision went pretty well, but I couldn't find my horn with the snook. The instructor walked me through what to do next time during the skills check and the Rossie if that happens. It's not an automatic fail if you can't find it, you just have to do something a little differently and now I know what to do.
3. This is the station that I totally bombed. The ligation and cutting of the ovarian and cervical pedicles. I don't have an excuse, I simply hadn't practiced this one enough and I forgot a lot of things.
4. Abdominal wall closure. Did fine on this, just got dinged for my sutures not being tight enough. Will correct that next time.
5. Subcutaneous tissue and skin closure. I almost passed this one, as well, but ran out of time before I could finish my last skin suture. I almost had it! The trouble is the monofilament doesn't stick to the fabric of the model like it does to skin, so it slips out of place really easily. I lost my tag a couple of times and had to start over and it cost me time.
Overall, it was a humbling lab. I felt pretty bummed afterward. It's hard to even focus right now on studying for the next round of blocks in a little over a week because I'm just kind of moody at the moment. I don't like sucking at things.
That sounds like one heck of a task! I'm in my final year in Dublin and we had some surgical skills labs last week- but nothing as full on as that! Don't worry about not passing, it sounds like you learned loads from the experience, and sometimes that can be a better thing than passing!! Feel free to check out my final year experiences too! Linda becomingdolittle.blogspot.ie
ReplyDeleteThanks! Wow, Ireland, cool. I had a friend who was considering going there but changed his mind last minute.
DeleteCongrats..! who says experience isnt d best tutor? .
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