 General surgery training can be an extremely high pressure environment. My general surgery practice today is a far cry from many of the experiences I had at UT Southwestern in Dallas from 1996 to 2001. Lessons I learned during those five years have not only helped me tremendously in my medical practice but in my everyday life and public service as well. The basis of any good medical team is working well with your colleagues.
A prime example of the team concept during my surgical training is the acutely injured trauma patient. These patients would come in from car collisions, gun violence, industrial accidents, burn injuries and many others. The severity of the injuries that we would see is hard to describe but the team that treated these injuries deserves mention and recognition. The trauma team begins with the resident physicians.
As a resident at Parkland in surgery, your life was not your own. Your life was your patient’s and your team’s. At the time of training this was incredibly difficult but in retrospect necessary for great top notch training. The physicians on the trauma team consisted of a staff physician and four residents with several medical students as well. When you were on “trauma call”, you were on duty in “the pit” which was the affectionate name for the emergency room at Parkland.
|
