Since I’m writing a little bit each day during my time on General Surgery, I decided to split the post up. Here’s day 4. You can find days one through 3 by scrolling down or clicking here.

Day 4: I think I have a little better idea of what it means to get “pimped.” I thought I had a taste a couple days ago when an attending quizzed me about a CT scan displayed on the computer. It was basic anatomy. Identify the indicated organ (pancreas) and vessel (splenic artery) on the image. Well today, it was a whole other level.

I attended a lecture with other medical students and residents in the surgical conference room. There were a total of 3 first year medical students at the beginning. The attending asked who the first years were and we sheepishly raised our hands. Then, looking to one of my classmates, he asked what is the blood supply to the stomach. My classmate replied that it was the gastric arteries coming off the celiac trunk.

That answer is true, but the attending wanted more. Not getting any more answers he asked, “Did you make it to second year?”

Honestly, at this point, I was telling myself not to laugh. Not because I could’ve done any better. I just think its funny when people have power trips and think they’re so much better than other people. I’m glad I didn’t, though.

He then looked to another first year and I. I said “gastroepiploic,” while the classmate next to me answered “right and left gastrics.” Well we both were right (since there are five vessels), but then we got lectured for answering a question with the wrong intonation. He told us we need to be confident. No questions. And then the follow-up, “You want to be doctors, right?” (For those of you wondering, a third year finally correctly answered, “left and right gastrics, left and right gastroepiploics, and short gastric.”)

The rest of the hour he spent pestering the residents, particularly one female resident who had the nerve to say “I don’t know” to one of his questions. He retorted that her response was unacceptable as a second year resident. And proceeded to call on her to answer a question at least once every ten minutes.

Oh well. I’ve always heard attendings could be rough on us learners. I just have to use this as motivation to learn my “stuff.”