Cosmetic Surgery Day 1 - Jack

This week my intended rotation is cosmetic surgery.

The first day we all got ready at 8am, and had breakfast at the cafeteria before we all went to our separate rotation sites. Jonathan and myself went to the Plastic Surgery department to be escorted to meet with our preceptors. I changed into scrubs and went through corridors of a maze. There were close to 50 operating rooms! With a little luck, I was able to find my preceptor's room.

Dr. Hsiao was man in his early 60's that was absolutely trusting in his senior resident in doing most of the procedures. As well, he showed interest in my summer internship but also medical school and student life in the the US. I almost had the chance to scrub in to see up close a nevus removal and the feel of being a surgeon, but since it was my first day, I regretfully deferred it.

My observation for the morning was:

Case 1
75 yo woman presents with a 0.5cm x 0.5cm nevus on left arm.
Procedure: excision with local anesthesia, with tissue sent to pathology
Meds: bacitracin ointment for wound healing, acetominophen for pain

Case 2
52 yo woman presents with a nevus on left shoulder and a cyst on left buttock.
Procedure: excision with local anesthesia
Meds: bacitracin ointment for wound healing, acetominophen for pain

There were only two procedures for this day, and it allowed me to have lunch with Dr. Lin, the head of ER, most of our group, and two Canadian students, Arron(MS-1) and Adam(MS-2).

We met up with Henry again, but this time he took us out to an Asian-style BBQ for dinner. Food was great, and a first for many of us. It was also a great bonding experience for our group, as I was disappointed that my plan for a get together fell through before the trip. I believe it was also a great experience for Henry. Jonathan did an excellent job at explaining osteopathy to him. Hopefully we'll give him a taste of OMM treatment before we leave.

After Dinner, we went to an arcade-like place, where, Viet, Sean, and I striked out so many times at the batting cages that it got a little embarassing. Luckily it was just us. We soon abandoned it and went with shooting free throws instead, where Viet was on fire.