I have a meeting with my program director tomorrow. We have them every 6 months to talk about how things are going and where they're headed. One of the things we look at is our operating statistics. We have to log every surgery we're part of into a computer program. It's a requirement for our Royal College Accreditation and certification. It's a pain to do, but definitely helpful to keep track of what we've done. So I was just going over my stats for the past 6 months. Since January, here are some of the numbers:
-237 surgeries total (and I know I've forgotten to log a few, so it's a bit more)
-45 surgeries where I did the whole thing myself
-138 where I did parts myself and the rest of the time was the main assistant
-51 where there was another assistant and I was the 2nd assist
-3 where I observed
-I've taken out 16 gallbladders on my own, and done parts of 19 more (laparoscopic cholecystectomies, or "lap choles" if you want to sound like a surgeon)
-I've done 5 appendectomies, and parts of 4 more
-I've done 14 hernia repairs on my own, and parts of 37 more
-I've done most/parts of 37 surgeries for breast cancer (lumpectomies or mastectomies)
-Been in on about 40 surgeries on the bowel
-Also surgeries on the stomach and esophagus, the spleen, and other things
And there are more. I've definitely gotten to do a lot more operating than many people have been able to do at this particular hospital. It's been a lot of laparoscopic stuff (through the little holes, with a camera and long instruments), because that's what this hospital specializes in. But there has been other stuff, too, and I've gotten to do my fair share. I guess we'll see what my program director thinks of all this tomorrow. From what I can tell, this is a pretty good number for someone in their first year of residency. I've definitely had favour with the staff surgeons at this hospital. A lot of responsibility, too, but with that came some benefits.
