Revelation

Last month as I was trying to wean myself off pediatrics, I very much enjoyed my rotations in the surgical specialties (I was observing a few docs for a month to get a feel for what I wanted to do with my life... *sigh*). It was awesome - I could wear anything I wanted to the hospital because I could change into Scrubs. Aaaah, scrubs... they can look so hot on men but somehow make every woman look frumpy. I mean, they're not made for women at all... I know the tops are V-neck and everything but they certainly do not accentuate any of the assets we females have to offer. I guess it really shouldn't matter because we're meant to operate and do other medically important things in these clothes after all... but where's the justice?

Before I completely move off the topic of ugly OR clothing for women I just want to mention the plethora of other less aesthetically-pleasing things we have to wear like little blue booties on our shoes and shower caps on our heads which they call "bouffant caps" to make us feel better. I guess I'm not the first one to complain about this, since now you can get designer OR clothing online.

Being a junior medical student there was not much I could do in the OR the first few times I was observing. In between fainting, getting used to reduced oxygen intake from wearing a mask or trying not to annoy the perioperative nurses and touching things in the "sterile" zone (I could get in big trouble if I did that, oh boy!) I basically had to stand throughout the whole operation and pretend that a) I knew what was going on, b) I wasn't hungry and c) I didn't have to pee. But very soon after I was allowed to do things like scrub-in (very fun but bad for the manicured nails) and wear the blue surgery gown and get to do the twirly thing so that you may be properly wrapped in the gown and hold a few choice instruments like the sucker-upper thingy and rakes to pull the skin away. I even got to first assist on a hemithyroidectomy! So much fun! I loved all the little tools... I thought to myself, I could do this as a career... but then I realized the hours were nutso - 7 AM to 5 PM for me but I'm sure the surgeons worked longer than that. I wasn't sure if I was willing to accept such harsh working conditions... (I'm sadly becoming one of those medical student lifestyle snobs).

Anyways I can go on forever with my surgical musings but let's just say while I was intrigued with obs/gyn for a bit and then general surgery after that, I think I need my sleep... and when I eventually procreate I'd like to at least see my children when the sun is out. So I've recently convinced myself that anesthesia would be the career for me... there's definitely lots of tools and tubing to play with and the best part is, I can still wear scrubs!

Today's newly discovered medical fact: On the subject of tubing, did you ever wonder why syringes are called syringes? According to the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine, "Syrinx was one of those versatile virgins of Arcadia who, on being pursued by Pan to the banks of the river Ladon, turned herself into a reed - from which Pan made his pipes, and, in so doing, she gave her name to all manner of tubular structures, e.g. syringes - and syrinxes, which are tubular or slit-like cavities which form in or close to the central canal of the cervical spinal cord." Oh those crazy Greeks! I guess I should brush up on my Greek mythology now... or maybe I should just go out for some souvlaki instead. Mmmmmm!