Orthopedic Surgerizing

Well hello again everyone!

I just wanted to check in with everyone to tell you about my rotation in the Orthopedic Surgery department at Malcolm Grow Medical Center on Andrews AFB.
I started on Monday, and I'll be working there for the entire month of January. It has been a good rotation thus far. I've spent about half of my time in the clinic and half of my time in the operating room. In clinic, I mainly seen people with fractures, knee pain, hip pain, or shoulder pain to evaluate whether or not they need surgery to fix their problem. In the OR, I've helped screw a plate into a lady's wrist to straighten a fracture, as well as help with shoulder and knee scopes. Next week I'll be helping with a hip replacement and a knee replacement as seen below.
As you can see by the space suits above, orthopedic surgeons are very concerned with keeping everything as clean as possible because if a hip or knee replacement gets infected the only cure is to remove the prosthetic device. Since the surgery involves removing the old joint first, removing the implant leaves the patient without a joint entirely which needless to say is an undesirable outcome.

Well that is about it for now. I'll give you more info on those surgeries next week.