Saturday, April 7, 2012

Day 8 - Starting on Maternity Wards


Today I switched over to the maternity ward (better known to me as OB/GYN). Admittedly it was kind of a slow day. Today I also met another British student named Caroline (which is proving to be a huge source of confusion  for the staff on the wards because they already think we look alike – which we don’t at all because Caroline is super pale and actually looks British… and I don’t.) Apparently, all white people look alike… or so I’m told. We did 1 c-section that was a repeat c-section because of previous cephalopelvic disproportion, but I think I got the most out of seeing how things are similar and different in an operative setting. Caroline was first-assist for this one and I expect that I will get a chance to be later on in the week.

Almost nothing in the OR here is disposable. Just about everything is intended to be washed, re-sterilized and used again including surgical gowns which is very different than what I’m used to. I mean almost everything in the ORs in the US is disposable. There are consequently huge piles of trash at the end of each case, but I do feel safe and know that everything is sterile as it is coming out of a package that has never been opened before. Here, the surgical packs do have the autoclave tape indicating that they are, in fact sterile, but the gray color of the blankets and the multiple scraps of autoclave tape from previous cases makes me question how clean the autoclave really gets things. But then again, TIA.

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