The most important thing I had to do before observing surgical shifts at the UC Davis Medical center was to get good shoes. The recommendation by former interns: Dansko clogs. The dress code for arriving is business casual, usually followed by a quick change into scrubs.
My first morning I shadowed a resident from the burn service.
Most of his patients were children seen across the street at Shriner’s hospital. In clinic he checked on three boys: one with a dog bite, the next had Steven-Johnson syndrome (see pic) where skin is lost due to a drug interaction, a finally a burn. The worst burn was in an adult from electricity. The treatments are similar since all affected the integument.
Morning rounds with the vascular team were impressive. Starting at 5:15am they raced like a pit crew from patient to patient, not only checking for changes overnight but replacing wound dressings. A large number of their patients are diabetics, feet having the worst circulation. In the afternoon they began an angiogram/stent of a carotid artery. The patient was distressed but didn’t seem to understand her movements lengthened the process greatly. I stayed late and heard the attending checking to see if she had suffered any brain damage…fortunately not.