How to make the most of your surgical placement
BMJ 2017; 358 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.j3718 (Published 05 September 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;358:j3718
- Frank Acquaah, core surgical trainee year 11,
- Thomas Goldsmith, foundation year 2 doctor2,
- Scarlett McNally, consultant orthopaedic surgeon3
- 1Princess Royal University Hospital, London, UK
- 2NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, UK
- 3East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, UK
A placement in surgery offers you an opportunity to observe a range of surgical procedures and to follow patient journeys from admission to recovery.
Surgery is a fast paced, high pressured area of medicine where the need for perfection can make for a tense, but exciting, environment. A placement in a surgical department can be an intimidating experience at first, but it is a great opportunity to brush up on your anatomy, see how elective and emergency cases present, observe an operation, and follow a patient’s journey from admission to postoperative recovery.
This article gives an overview of what to expect from the different areas of a general surgery department and provides advice on what to focus on during your placement and how you can assist the team.
What to expect as a medical student
During a surgical rotation your time will be split between the ward, outpatient clinic, being on call, and the operating theatre.
On the ward
The team on a typical surgical ward consists of foundation doctors, core surgical trainees, specialist registrars, consultants, specialty and associate specialist doctors, and other allied healthcare workers—for example, nurses, physiotherapists, and dietitians.
To begin with, it is a good idea to shadow the foundation doctor, who manages the ward patients by identifying those who are unwell and escalating concerns to senior members of the team.
A daily ward round is usually done by a registrar, and more formal consultant rounds take place once or twice a week, where management plans for patients are written or revised.
You can help by offering to scribe during a ward round, noting down patients’ most recent observations and investigation findings as well as recording the latest examination findings and management plan. Surgical ward rounds can be fast paced because of the number of patients that must be seen, so you need to keep up while …
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