May 14th- Day 9

Today was yet another fantastic day with Dr. Hennig. This morning I woke up early and made my way to Hillside Surgery Center where I traded my office clothes for a pair of scrubs and spent the day in the operating room! I sat in on three arthroscopic shoulder surgeries, two for anterior instability and one for multidirectional instability. Not only was able to observe a variety of techniques used by Dr. Hennig in order to repair the joint but I also learned a lot about the principles of shoulder arthroscopy. I was able to sit in on the nerve block done before the procedure, as well as watch as the surgical team which included the surgeon, a physician assistant, a scrub nurse, a circulator, and an anaesthesiologist prepared, positioned, and draped the patient. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the surgical team as they completed their organized routine for each patient. I was also able to see a lot of different surgical instruments in action which was really cool because reading about them and seeing them being used are two very different things. After my first surgery I had a break in which I was able to break open Clinical Sports Medicine, by: Darren L. Johnson and Scott D. Mair, a textbook that Dr. Hennig lent me today to read throughout the duration of my senior project. After skimming through most of the text already I must say I am so excited to dive into this, it is jam packed full of information, but it is also at a level that I am able to comprehend versus being full of medical jargon. I must say that the highlight of my day was the last surgery, the shoulder with multidirectional instability. It was really interesting watching an arthroscopic capsulotomy, being able to watch Dr. Hennig maneuver around the shoulder and put in multiple sutures easily kept my attention. I loved spending my day in the OR but it was certainly a long day. I am looking forward to breaking open that textbook again tonight and returning to the orthopaedic office tomorrow morning!