Job Shadow #1

The idea of surgeons listening to music during surgery is true. Earlier this year I secured Dr. Caleb Butts as my mentor and later completed my first of four job shadows. On the first of November, I arrived at University Hospital around 5:30 pm, thirty minutes before I was to meet with Dr. Butts. My job shadow officially started at 6 pm and lasted until midnight, Dr. Butts met me in the parking lot of the MRI building before taking me into surgery. While there, I was able to observe two surgeries, three traumas, and post-op rounds.

The first surgery Dr. Butts introduced me to was a burn surgery. The patient was a young female with a third degree burn on her lower right arm. I was able to stand in the operating room while the surgical team simultaneously performed the procedure and explained to me, in detail, what they were doing and why. The next surgery I observed was a surgery of a necrotic bladder on an older woman. The surgery itself was, in my opinion, fascinating. I was able to see a debridement of the bladder and drainage of the bladder as the surgeons were trying to save the organ.

After observing the surgeries, Dr. Butts placed me with a third year medical student, Chase, and a surgical intern, Marjorie, and it was with them that I observed three trauma cases. The first trauma of the night was a 49-year-old male, involved in a car crash, that presented with an inability to feel his right leg and previous numbness in his right arm and leg. These symptoms, persisting since the early 2000s, showed no evidence of traumatic injuries sufficient to explain the sudden and complete loss of movement in his right upper extremities. Given the unclear etiology, a neurology consultation was requested to evaluate potential neurological causes. The second case involved a 70-year-old female, struck by a car, was presented with a suspected brain injury, including a possible right epidural bleed and a potential non-displaced skull fracture. Additional injuries included a right elbow laceration and a non-displaced nasal fracture. Her blood pressure was critically elevated at 238/142 during the CT scan, raising concerns for acute hypertensive complications alongside her traumatic injuries. And finally, the last trauma case I saw involved a 20-30-year-old male, weighing approximately 320 lbs, with a gunshot wound to the left chest. Remarkably, he walked in on his own, and informed the police he had been shot while outside of his car. Imaging and physical evaluation revealed that the bullet did not hit any major structures. The bullet was left in place, and the patient was discharged later that night in stable condition. During each trauma case, Dr. Butts made sure to check in with me, answer any questions, and offer an in-depth explanation of injuries and their respective treatment plans.

In-between each trauma, I went on post-op rounds with Marjorie and Chase. The first stop was the post-op rounds following a lower anterior resection, the patient, an older woman, was monitored for signs of anastomotic leak, bowel function recovery, and adequate pain control. Her vital signs were stable, and the surgical site showed no evidence of infection or unusual drainage. The patient’s nasogastric tube was functioning appropriately, and gradual advancement of diet was discussed depending on the return of bowel sounds. Next, we were presented with an intubated patient fighting intubation. The patient, an older man, signaled that he wanted the intubation tube removed, however, once removed he could not breath on his own. Anesthesia was called to sedate him, which allowed the intubation team to re-intubate him and restart his breathing. The final round I observed was the post-op monitoring of a total thyroidectomy due to Grave's disease in an older woman. We checked her incision site and her ability to speak and eat. Unfortunately, once we finished rounds for the hour, it was past midnight and my job shadow officially ended.