Indexing Title: JGGuerra’s Medical Anecdotal Report (06-03) 

MAR Title: “ Not just a simple appendectomy “ 

Date of Observation: March, 2006 

Narration:        

            It has been more than two years since I started my residency training here in OMMC-Surgery. As a young surgeon-in-training, my spirit in acquiring knowledge and skill is way up high. The program had provided me a fertile ground to hone my surgical skills and techniques particularly in doing simple cases, especially appendectomy. After quite sometime of repeatedly doing appendectomies, I thought I have mastered the craft.

Until one early morning appendectomy operation, my level of confidence changed. On the early part of the procedure, I had an easy way of getting through the peritoneum. After seeing the ileocecal area, I hurriedly stick in my finger to look for the appendix, I repeatedly did the step and to no avail, I was not able to find it. I even extended my incision, followed the taenia coli, but still there was no sign of the appendix. I almost did all the maneuvers I knew, but failed. The clock was tickling so fast that I almost had an hour just looking for the appendix.

 I was like a desperate treasure hunter looking for gold in the midst of nowhere. Doing the next best thing, I called up my senior for help. After spending few minutes, we got hold of the appendix. It was located retroperitoneally. We did retrograde appendectomy at last. I was very exhausted…

Insights: ( Discovery, Stimulus, Reinforcements / (Physical, Psychosocial, Ethical)                  

It is not the bulk of the operations you make to make you a well skilled and fine tuned surgeon. Doing as much is not enough. It is  time that will define us. The best part in surgery is that we are compelled to seek more knowledge. Only in doing so, we become the best surgeon we wanted to be.

I learned that skills are not congenital. They are acquired and developed. And only repeated exposure will strengthen them. And when it comes to learning, one should never let emotions keep him from knowing what he needs to know,  just as one needs not to totally embrace a philosophy and live by it to understand it.