There is nothing like juniors who have a very high opinion about you to flatter your ego.
That day I was performing a difficult vaginal hysterectomy. After ligating the uterine vessels, I bisected the uterus. After two thirds of the way through, I had some difficulty. I waited for a couple of seconds, trying to decide if I should perform morcellation or continue with the bisection.
"Sir, perhaps if we try to ..." piped my Assistant Professor who was assisting me.
"Huh?" I was distracted.
"Well, if we try to ... perhaps ...to get the uterus out..." She seemed to believe her assisting her Boss was the same as assisting resident doctors. Or perhaps she believed her assistance was to be mental as well as physical.
"Well, no. I am not looking out for a solution to any problem. If you will allow me to make my own decision, we will be able to move on to our next case in time." She allowed me, and I got the uterus out in the next five minutes. "Was your previous Boss often in need of your advice while operating?" I asked her after the case was over.
Um...no" she said. Whether he needed it or not, she must have given advice and he must have allowed her, I thought.
A few days passed. Then I was performing marsupialization of a Bartholin's cyst. Normally I let the resident doctors do these cases. But we were way behind schedule and I had to get that case done quickly. I would have done it with resident doctors to assist. But this same Assistant Professor washed up and came to assist. I held the cyst steady and made an incision into it. The fluid spurted out.
"It opened!" piped the Assistant Professor.
"It did not open" I said. "I opened it by making an incision into it." Then I had a thought. "What is marsupialization?" I asked her.
"It is communicating the inside of the cyst with the exterior" she said.
"Then it cannot be done without opening it. Is that not so?" I said.
"Um..."
"Or were you thinking of excision of the cyst, where it is not to be opened, but gets opened accidentally?"
"Um.. no" she said. I knew that was it, but I let it go. By this time I had sutured the lining of the cyst to the outer epithelium with a few interrupted sutures.
"Sir, the Assistant Professor under whom I was trained used to suture the edges with a continuous stitch. You have placed interrupted sutures" said the other Assistant Professor who was watching the operation.
"So?" I said.
"I was thinking..."
It was obvious what she was thinking. We had another one who held me in such high esteem.
"It does not matter what he did. What did you read in your text book of operative gynecology?"
"Interrupted sutures" she said without much conviction. Had she not read it and relied on what she saw her senior do?
"Then you should call that fellow and ask him why he put a continuous stitch" I suggested. "Will you find out pros and cons of simple and continuous sutures in this operation?"
"Yes" she said. I know it is not written in any book. I hope for her sake she can think and reach the right answer. In the meantime it is my good fortune to have such admirers of my expertise working with me.
That day I was performing a difficult vaginal hysterectomy. After ligating the uterine vessels, I bisected the uterus. After two thirds of the way through, I had some difficulty. I waited for a couple of seconds, trying to decide if I should perform morcellation or continue with the bisection.
"Sir, perhaps if we try to ..." piped my Assistant Professor who was assisting me.
"Huh?" I was distracted.
"Well, if we try to ... perhaps ...to get the uterus out..." She seemed to believe her assisting her Boss was the same as assisting resident doctors. Or perhaps she believed her assistance was to be mental as well as physical.
"Well, no. I am not looking out for a solution to any problem. If you will allow me to make my own decision, we will be able to move on to our next case in time." She allowed me, and I got the uterus out in the next five minutes. "Was your previous Boss often in need of your advice while operating?" I asked her after the case was over.
Um...no" she said. Whether he needed it or not, she must have given advice and he must have allowed her, I thought.
A few days passed. Then I was performing marsupialization of a Bartholin's cyst. Normally I let the resident doctors do these cases. But we were way behind schedule and I had to get that case done quickly. I would have done it with resident doctors to assist. But this same Assistant Professor washed up and came to assist. I held the cyst steady and made an incision into it. The fluid spurted out.
"It opened!" piped the Assistant Professor.
"It did not open" I said. "I opened it by making an incision into it." Then I had a thought. "What is marsupialization?" I asked her.
"It is communicating the inside of the cyst with the exterior" she said.
"Then it cannot be done without opening it. Is that not so?" I said.
"Um..."
"Or were you thinking of excision of the cyst, where it is not to be opened, but gets opened accidentally?"
"Um.. no" she said. I knew that was it, but I let it go. By this time I had sutured the lining of the cyst to the outer epithelium with a few interrupted sutures.
"Sir, the Assistant Professor under whom I was trained used to suture the edges with a continuous stitch. You have placed interrupted sutures" said the other Assistant Professor who was watching the operation.
"So?" I said.
"I was thinking..."
It was obvious what she was thinking. We had another one who held me in such high esteem.
"It does not matter what he did. What did you read in your text book of operative gynecology?"
"Interrupted sutures" she said without much conviction. Had she not read it and relied on what she saw her senior do?
"Then you should call that fellow and ask him why he put a continuous stitch" I suggested. "Will you find out pros and cons of simple and continuous sutures in this operation?"
"Yes" she said. I know it is not written in any book. I hope for her sake she can think and reach the right answer. In the meantime it is my good fortune to have such admirers of my expertise working with me.
