Pediatric Neurosurgery

It never ceases to amaze me how much I learn from each mentor visit. Originally, this past Wednesday, I had a mentor visit scheduled and I was supposed to watch my mentor in surgery. However, my mentors surgery was cancelled and I was somewhat bummed out. But, not for long. The unique thing about my mentor ship is that since my mentor works along side a few other pediatric neurosurgeons, it doesn't necessarily have to be him whom I shadow -- in this sense, I may end up shadowing some of his colleagues as well. And that's exactly what happened this past Wednesday. Although my mentors surgery was cancelled, he allowed me to come in and follow around one of the other pediatric neurosurgeons and it was quite interesting to compare how similar (and also how different) these surgeons are. I started off the morning by analyzing and looking at scans and then followed the surgeon on rounds. After that, I was able to see her preform surgeon on an 8 month old male who suffered from seizures. What surprised the most about this particular surgery was the collaboration that took place between both the pediatric neurosurgeons and the pediatric neurologists. In the operating room itself I was able to listen to the conversation and discussion that occurred between the two professionals and gain some insight as to how the two doctors were able to come to a consensus regarding the best procedural option for the patient. There is a certain thrill and joy that I get from being in the Operating Room. It is actually extremely difficult to put into words the feeling that I get when I am able to step inside an operating room and see a pulsating brain right in front of my eyes. I cannot say that there is any other experience that I can compare it to. As spring break is coming up, I'm looking forward to hopefully spending a few more days in the hospital. At the same time, I must keep in mind that Final Presentation Nigh and Final Product are coming and start working on both of those things. It is crazy how fast time seems to be flying and this is both exhilarating and terrifying. I cannot wait to see what these next few months hold but at the same time I know they are going to pass by quite rapidly.