How to do well on Surgery
They say that the first decision that you must make when choosing a specialty is to determine whether you want to be a surgeon or not. Becoming a surgeon comes with a host of issues including, but not limited to, lengthy residency durations, long days and short days off, and often more intense personalities. That being said, surgeons are gifted the ability to immediately heal—to, with their hands and minds, definitively treat disease and cure ailments, something incredibly satisfying and beautiful. As a medical student, Surgery will be where you will learn to present directed history and physicals, relate pathology with anatomical deviations, and hone surgical skills.
There's a whole gamut of integrated specialties to choose from, when investigating the different arms of surgery. This includes general surgery, vascular surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, orthopaedic surgery, otolaryngology-head & neck surgery, plastic surgery, urology, and neurosurgery.
Tips on doing well on your surgery rotation
Introduce yourself and then ask what the expectations are.
This is true for every rotation you are on but especially true for surgery. Knowing what expectations the attending and residents have of you will allow you to
Raid the supply closets
Keep supplies in your white coat pockets, or a small supply bag. Things you should continually maintain are medpore tape, paper tape, plastic tape, 4x4 gauze, 2x2 gauze, xeroform, kerlix, ace wraps, saline flushes, q-tips, tongue depressors, antibiotic ointment, lube, and ultrasound gel. Have a penlight and a stethoscope at all times. Keep an eye open for patterns; that is, learn to recognize which things are needed for which patients. A student that has supplies ready at bedside when needed during rounds is very much appreciate.
Learn the flow of the OR
Recognize that there is a well established flow to how the OR runs the moment the patient rolls in. As a medical student, you can assist the patient onto the table, roll the bed out of the OR, help put on the SCDs, tuck the patient (ask the resident how they prefer the patient is tucked), draw up the local anesthetic, and prep the patient. After scrubbing in, you can ask and help the resident to towel off the surgical field, drape the patient, and attach the sterile light handles to the OR lights. Little touches that make you look amazing are bringing a warm blanket to the patient after the case, wheeling in the bed after the case, and helping anesthesia apply the leads.
Learn to efficiently present
Surgery is not medicine. Rounds are often much, much quicker and presentations should reflect the condition, assessment, and plan of each patient. Learn to trim and tailor each presentation to highlight the essential parts of each patient. This will come with watching the residents and learning to realize what the pertinent details of each problem are.
Learn to tie and suture...before the OR
Before looking fancy with your one-handed throws, learn the basic two-handed tie. Practice this over and over with gloves on to better emulate the OR. Attendings often do not trust medical students to tie sufficient knots with one-handed throws. Practice so that you have a reliable two handed knot and then move onto one-handed throws. Ask the resident during some down time for any tips on throwing square knots.
Ask to do
Ask to suture the laceration in the ED and ask to pull the chest tube. Not only will you have some awesome experiences and learn a thing or two, you'll solidify yourself as a proactive, interested student which goes a long way in evaluations.
Remember, you are there to learn.
Don't get bogged down by scut. Ask questions and learn.