Surgeon Personal Statement

A circulator is either a registered nurse or a healthcare assistant who runs around in the theatres making sure that the scrub nurse gets any additional equipment’s they ask for. A scrub nurse role is to assist the surgeon with instruments during the procedure but usually a scrub nurse can also a play a role of being a surgical first assistant. Dual role is not to be undertaken by anyone who has not received proper training or education. There are adjusted roles which are arranged or changed roles to match or function in a certain way and augmented roles are already developed or well underway. The First Surgical Assistant works within a clinical governance framework during the intra-operative phase of the patient’s care, working as part of the operating room team.

While the pain is fresh and the glory is sweet, I decided to write this article about my experience running the marathon and how in my opinion, it metaphorically correlates the beginning and the diurnal responsibility of my profession as a Surgical Technologist.

 This paper will aim to apply my insights on motivational theory of individuals and teams by developing two initiatives to be put into action at the New Mexico Veteran Administration Medical Center (VA).  It will discuss how I will implement these initiatives and what changes in an employee mindset may be required to overcome any resistance.  It will discuss the positive outcomes I expect, and how I can avoid or minimize negative factors which may cause stress.

“Never be a doctor if you’re going to have any loans to pay back.” “Don’t do this to yourself.” “You’ll never have a family if you go to medical school.” “The two worst jobs in America belong to physicians and teachers.” Without even soliciting their advice, physicians noticed my “Pre-medical Volunteer” nametag, and immediately approached me with words of discouragement. I participated in a volunteer summer internship at St. Mary Hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, following my sophomore year of college, in an effort to gain more experience in the medical field and solidify my lifelong desire to become a physician. Throughout the eight weeks, I spent mandatory hours in both the Emergency Room and the Operating Room, made contacts with physicians in specific areas of interest, and spent time shadowing them. In addition, each of us in the program attended weekly business meetings in which administrators of the hospital and local physicians spoke to us about their particular positions and experiences. Unlike the many years of high school I spent volunteering at a hospital and a nursing home, where I was limited to carrying around food trays and refilling cups of water, I was able to gain hands-on and more intimate experience. Initially uneasy at the site of the blood gushing into plastic sheets draped around the orthopedic surgeon’s patient in the OR, it took only a few days to grow accustomed to the images on the television screen during a laparoscopic procedure and the

"Better, A Surgeons Notes on Performance" by Dr. Atul Gawande, allows us an insight on his experiences as he explores the breakthroughs in medicine that was accomplished by people striving to improve their performance. There are three components Dr. Gawande believed are essential for a medical professional to encompass; diligence, doing right, and ingenuity. He defines diligence as avoiding errors and overcoming obstacles by paying attention to details. Doing right as a medical professional is to do right for our patient. And ingenuity, recognizing your failures and be willing to change by looking for solutions for better medical care. It is through his experiences as a surgeon that he came to understand the importance of encompassing these components.

“As a surgeon you have to have a controlled arrogance. If it's uncontrolled, you kill people, but you have to be pretty arrogant to saw through a person's chest, take out their heart and believe you can fix it. Then, when you succeed and the patient survives, you pray, because it's only by the grace of God that you get there.”-Mehmet Oz. One never considers themselves able to accomplish something great until they meet someone great who has already acquired insight of the world from the other side, the side where all of the talented men dwell. A young girl does not grow up dreaming of becoming an oral surgeon; she dreams of traveling and seeing the world outside of the walls of her small town. I had already had my fair share of adventure, having more surgeries than my mother had by the time I was three months old. I had what specialists call Van der Woude Syndrome. Basically, I was the 1 in 100,000 babies in the world who happened to have this genetic disorder. A key characteristic of Van der Woude Syndrome is a cleft lip. With that being said, I had many surgeons in my lifetime, but one man stuck out. Maybe it was because it was one of the biggest surgeries I had, or maybe, just maybe it was because God had put him in my path to inspire me for greatness.

While taking in each detail of the surgery, I witnessed the specialized skills required to make the incision and insert the tube through the patient’s chest. The physician’s success in carrying out the skills reminded me of the techniques I had mastered for my microbiology thesis. I found the missing link between my fascination with surgery and my thesis research: patient-centered care. I was awestruck by the physician’s ability to maintain focus on the chest tube insertion while simultaneously providing emotional support to the patient throughout the surgery. Witnessing the procedure instilled a deep desire to develop the physician’s abilities to deliver life-saving, patient-centered care.

A medical practice that I have highly considered is general surgery. Both my grandfather and uncle are general surgeons, so the idea of following in their footsteps interested me greatly. Also, the idea of combining science and art, as doctors do, has always fascinated me and called me to this profession since a very young age. Like any doctor, the road to becoming a general surgeon is vigorous. “Surgery is a career for the committed. Much of your life is dictated by the demands of the operating room. The training is long and demanding. But for those who love it, a

Whether it was as simple as teaching a person how to operate the remote control, finding a way to motivate distraught patients, or learning how to interact with terminal patients and their families, I constantly sought to improve the quality of care I offered as a CNA. Though I have worked in a variety of inpatient units at the hospital, one of my more impactful experiences occurred while working in the Surgery Unit. Here I was able to learn the intricacies of surgical preparation and recovery, from colonoscopies to hip replacements, as well as interact with many physicians. This really peaked my interest in the surgical aspect of medicine. Subsequent shadowing and observing different surgeries, has only enhanced my interest in pursuing a career as a surgeon. As opposed to other branches of medicine, I love the ability that surgeons have to physically fix a problem and immediately provide a path to improve patients’ health. In addition, the high pressure situations that surgeons are involved in and the quick thinking and leadership that is required, are circumstances where I personally

In today’s day and age, I believe obesity is the primary health problem in the United States. Obesity affects every state, city, community and school across the nation. According to the CDC, nearly one third (36%) of American are obese and one in five school aged children (6-19) are obese.

As my affection for the game of tennis demonstrates, I believe teamwork and intuition are at the forefront of any endeavor. Coming into medical school, my interest in surgery stemmed primarily from my innate passion to hone the tremendous skillset a surgical operation required. After exploring several surgical fields as a medical student, I have found that the procedural skills and type of care provided in orthopaedic surgery provide the perfect fit for my goals and personal motivations. I was first exposed to orthopaedic surgery while working on a systematic review involving plastic surgery literature. It was a key turning point in my interests.

Throughout my experience as a surgical patient, I always noticed three things my medical team never failed to perform: inform, educate, and care for me. Through my frequent visits to the hospital I began to notice that these ideals were essential in every successful physician-patient relationship. As I progressed in my career as a student, I came to realize that the academic and extracurricular activities I was involved in were helping me perform those very qualities.

I aspire to become a groundbreaking surgeon with the aim of working with non-profit organizations to provide help to countries with less developed healthcare systems like the Gambia, my native country. I do not only want to be based in the country which I reside in, rather worldwide. As a first-year generation student and an overachiever from a low-income family, I know how it feels to be handicapped on certain opportunities and issues that are outreached; Therefore, I must reach out and incorporate changes that are not being portrayed. With the goals I have set out, I plan on being actively involved in my community and making the impossibles possible. Frequently, people may say free words and not mean.

The first time that I began to appreciate the medical field was when I was wandering around Saint-Luc hospital at midnight, observing the hustle-and-bustle of the Emergency Room a few days prior to my brain surgery. That initial pinprick of gratitude has morphed into a passion to help others, as well as an admiration for health-care professionals- particularly neurosurgeons. The precision that lies behind every stroke of their scalpels fills me with awe; for instance, the only remainder of my surgery is a miniscule scar on my temple. Their dedication to helping others is also admirable; most of the physicians that I have spoken with do quite a bit of pro-Bono work. On account of this, I hope to follow in their footsteps by also becoming a neurosurgeon.

Throughout my life, my family encouraged me to follow in the footsteps of my Grandfather, a General Surgeon. Grandfather always hoped that I would follow in his path. As early as I can remember, I had an interest in medicine, but it was not until the Summer of 2010 that these seeds would begin to grow in earnest. It was during that summer that my Grandfather took me under his wing and allowed me to shadow him in his daily rounds. That first day was a busy schedule for him: hernia repair at 8:30 AM, patient post-op follow up at 11:25AM, and a kidney stone removal at 3PM.