No bones about it, I’m good at what I do. At this point, I can walk into any surgery cool as a cucumber and know that I’m can get the job done. I’ve spent the last 15 years in surgery, so that’s not tooting my own horn to me. Heck, if I weren’t good by now, it’d be time to get out.
Here’s the point though. What makes me infinitely better at what I do is a good support team. If I have a good tech, my day is so easy. If have a terrible tech, it’s a slog. Having a good tech can be more important than having a good surgeon. It’s true.
Don’t be scared of the techs on your rotations. They are good, hard-working people, and they can be a major help to you. Treat them poorly or in a condescending manner and they will ruin your day. They know a lot and can teach A LOT. Or they can sit you down on a stool in the corner, banished.
The good techs make me look better than I am, and in turn I make them look better than they are. It’s a beautiful system. The really good ones help to hide my shortcomings in the OR. They compensate for me. One example of this is my issue with word finding.
I struggle with word-finding in general. I can remember details about things, but names? No way. My scrub techs know all of my hand gestures and my grunts. I don’t do it to play high and mighty. I do it because, in the heat of the moment, I literally can’t come up with the word “scissors.” So, I put out my first two fingers and make a scissoring motion. It’s downright laughable, but it’s true.
This has always been an issue for me. Whether I’m in the OR, on rounds, or taking exams. I can know every detail of what I want, but the name will be like trying to grab at a shadow. I can’t get there.
That could be a real problem on tests, but thankfully I’ve developed a few workarounds, just like gesturing for the scissors in the OR. The Physician Assistant Exam Scholars newsletter is where I have more space and time to dive into these ideas. In the November issue, I’ll go through it all with you. How I solve this problem and how I study to make it all but go away on test day.
Tomorrow night is the deadline to get in on the November issue. I send the list of addresses to the printer on Monday at 5:30 AM. So do yourself a favor and get on it today, lest you forget and miss out.
Physician Assistant Exam Scholars
Brian Wallace
