So, the quick question, would it be common/believable for medical student getting ready to qualify to practice to own their own set of surgical tools?
If it is helpful/hurtful, its about 1990 USA.
If it is helpful/hurtful, its about 1990 USA.
Quick med student question
- Thread starter Nivarion
- Start date
No.
Sorry.
Medical students buy a stethoscope, a reflex hammer, and a otoscope/opthalmoscope set. I still use my stethoscope. The rest gathers dust.
Even as a resident, someone wouldn't buy their own surgical tools. They're bought and owned by the hospital / surgical center the individual works for. Some of these instruments are now single use devices - they can't be cleaned and are disposed of after the case.
What you could do is have your character collect vintage instruments. Say, they've received them from relatives over the years who've known of their interest in these antiques. That's about as close as I can come for you, in reality.
To qualify to practice a med student has to finish the Med School, pass the Medical Board exams, finish surgical residency program, take Surgical Boards, maybe do a fellowship. Your student is about ten years away from practicing, plus minus a few years. He/she may open a practice and apply for a state license after finishing all the training.
Then it's time to stuff the office with medical supplies.
Hope it helps.
Why does the med student need surgical tools? I'm sure we can brainstorm a situation in which he is in possession of surgical tools (that he does not actually own).
I like Docaggie's vintage/antique idea. I actually have a friend who collects old medical supplies. There are oodles of old civil war-era surgical sets out there. If you want him to have a more recent set of instruments, you could say they were from the treatment of someone famous. Like, "these are the surgical tools that were used when Paris Hilton was admitted".
I like Docaggie's vintage/antique idea. I actually have a friend who collects old medical supplies. There are oodles of old civil war-era surgical sets out there. If you want him to have a more recent set of instruments, you could say they were from the treatment of someone famous. Like, "these are the surgical tools that were used when Paris Hilton was admitted".
I want her to have her own personal set, because the setting is alternate universe. Everything in her apartment got taken with her so whatever she has there is what she gets to use through the first part of the story.
Her dad has been my fall back a few times. He was an army quatermaster who liked to send surplus items home. Medics field surgery kit was just added to the list.
would that be useful for a skilled student (she's almost finished with residency) to be able to perform minor surgery? And a skin graft?
Her dad has been my fall back a few times. He was an army quatermaster who liked to send surplus items home. Medics field surgery kit was just added to the list.
would that be useful for a skilled student (she's almost finished with residency) to be able to perform minor surgery? And a skin graft?
I think you are confused. Upon graduation from a Medical School your MC has earned Medical Doctor degree. She is a Doctor now, not a student any more. When she enters surgical residency program she's doing post-graduate training to become a surgeon. Every Resident in every accredited program goes by the PGY level. The last year of training, year five or above - depending on the program, she becomes a Chief Resident. She sure can perform surgery by herself and not only minor procedures. Skin grafting, however, requires operating room. I wouldn't call it a minor procedure because it's usually done in the main OR. The reason is not necessarily the difficulty, but the need for help and equipment.
I hope I clarified it for you.
Well... it seems that it's not normal. But if people knew he was a med student I don't think anyone would ever question why he owned them if he saw them.
Thank you for helping me correct my terms. I wouldn't want somethings like calling her a student while still in residencies to creep in.
While it is up, the skin graft in question is to removed a characters Tattoo that could get all of the characters strung up if anyone saw it. Its about two inches in diameter. I don't know much about the process though.
I'm sure you realize there're easier ways to remove a tattoo than the surgery.
Having said that, your resident can for sure cut out the tattoo at home under local anesthesia. Skin grafting is usually done with a split thickness grafts and require dermatomes. She wouldn't have a dermatome at home. Maybe an antique mechanical one? Even that would be a streatch. Instead, she can go with a full thickness graft or a different method of closure all together. Do you insist on skin grafting in your WIP? Where on the body is the tattoo, if I may ask?
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no, the only plot necessity is that it be gone. The tattoo is inside of the left forearm. It's like a 'gang' insignia and the natives check for it.
I didn't read past this post- How can she do surgery without anesthesia? What does she have to sterilize with? A skin graft is a complicated procedure and the aftercare is a BIT##. No one will be running around getting dirty with a skin graft unless they want to experience the fun of dying of gangrene/sepsis.
If there's a loose area of skin (anything you can grab with your fingers, like your arse, stomach, parts of your limbs, and smaller holes over your back, ribs, etc) can just be stitched together using proper techniques. That means not just how you suture, but the way the cut/hole is in relation to the tension on the skin.
If you want her to have suture material in the house, have her ask to take a box of what will be expiring soon (an absorbable type, preferably). She was planning to donate it to a humane shelter but threw it on the kitchen table for now because she's busy and stressed.
Opium (other character owns it) Rubbing Alcohol, Booze, Iodine and a bite stick? She (the one getting chopped) is also already unconscious.
What body part? There is no reason to do a skin graft aside from aesthetics. I could show you a pic of a scar above my ankle. The horse literally scraped the skin cells off of an area about two quarters in size. No muscles were exposed because of the tissues between skin and muscle being intact. I kept it bandaged and clean and watched *some* skin cells migrate back (they do that) and the rest scared over. Mind you, I'm a veterinarian, so I could make that call. And I sure as hell wasn't going to pay for a graft for my lower leg.
Without the full tech, grafts are absurdly impractical. What area and what wound?
Without the full tech, grafts are absurdly impractical. What area and what wound?
Oh, I see something about a tattoo. There are other ways to get rid of those. Anything from cutting most of it out and suturing the remaining skin closed. (if the tattoo is say * then he'd cut a long rounded strip out in the right direction that looked like () proportionate to that * sized tattoo and stitch)
Other options include beating it with a burning stick, then treating the burn wound. Insta scar. Prolly has a higher risk of dying, but shows your MC can work without modern supplies and think creatively.
Other options include beating it with a burning stick, then treating the burn wound. Insta scar. Prolly has a higher risk of dying, but shows your MC can work without modern supplies and think creatively.
Sweet, simplest course of action found. time to slice up a persons arm. And that wraps up my questions for now.
She won't be able to do a simple closure on a 2-inch in diameter hole. Short of a graft, she will need a local tissue flap closure. I would keep it simple, something like a rotation or an advancement skin flap. That's what I do on 90% of my skin cancer patients.
Place the tattoo close to axilla, so there is plenty of skin to work with. All your resident needs are basic instruments and suture material. She can have a wound closure kit from a hospital that has all the necessities.
Instead of booze and opium, I would use local anesthesia like Lidocaine to give your narrative a professional appearance.
I hope it helps.
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is there any legal or reasonable way for lidocaine to be in the characters possession? And while they weren't quite as hard about drugs in 1990, is there any reason why she would want to have some at home? The alternate universe is a little behind in technology. Their medicine is about late 1800 to early 1900.
Would she be able to use benzocaine for it on an unconscious person? I can think of good reason for that one to be in her medicine cabinet.
Yeah, she can't close a circular hole, that's what I was trying to describe with the (*) diagram above. That's the simple explanation from someone who has never done a skin flap at any rate 
But get as close to the tattoo as possible. Leaving a smidge of ink will blend with the wound and then just look like nothing later.
But get as close to the tattoo as possible. Leaving a smidge of ink will blend with the wound and then just look like nothing later.
Yeah, she can't close a circular hole, that's what I was trying to describe with the (*) diagram above. That's the simple explanation from someone who has never done a skin flap at any rate
But get as close to the tattoo as possible. Leaving a smidge of ink will blend with the wound and then just look like nothing later.
I understood it. Like an elongated football shape. (american football) This scene has been altered so many times. lol.
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In the 80s and 90s the was a lot of waste with single use suture trays. It wasnt unusual for residents to clean them, take them home and practice suturing. There were even waste ampules of lidocaine in a lotof kits.
I think you're going a long way for a short walk.
2 in square tattoo that needs to disappear fast and it doesn't matter if there's signs of recent surgery?
Burn that sucker off. It'll hurt like crazy, but it's far simpler than trying to do minor surgery and coverage. And it can be done with stuff found around the house.
2 in square tattoo that needs to disappear fast and it doesn't matter if there's signs of recent surgery?
Burn that sucker off. It'll hurt like crazy, but it's far simpler than trying to do minor surgery and coverage. And it can be done with stuff found around the house.