{"id":2410,"date":"2012-08-02T20:28:03","date_gmt":"2012-08-03T01:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindonmed.com\/?p=2410"},"modified":"2018-02-09T12:52:42","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T17:52:42","slug":"imprinted-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.mindonmed.com\/2012\/08\/imprinted-experiences.html","title":{"rendered":"Imprinted Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coming into medical school I think many of us have an image in our head of all the great things we’ll get to do. In general most of them probably include a collage of things like saving lives, using defibrillators, performing surgery…you know, TV medical drama-esque stuff.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In reality, medical students very rarely save anyone’s life and generally the extent of our surgical experience stops at holding bladder blades and retractors.<\/p>\n

That’s not to say that we are not sometimes a very integral and important part of the healthcare team<\/a>, only that it’s often in the patient’s best interest if we learn slowly. Fortunately for you all, that typically means starting with small things like sutures and staples, not being in charge of stopping a bleeding great artery or removing an infected appendix.<\/p>\n

However, one relatively universal opportunity we get before giving up our “MS” designation is the chance to deliver a baby.<\/p>\n

And by chance I mean, if you don’t deliver a baby you will not pass your Ob\/Gyn clerkship.<\/p>\n

So, last semester I got to deliver babies…with the help of some well-versed doctors, of course.<\/p>\n

During my Ob\/Gyn clerkship<\/a> it was me, on several occasions, who handed a tiny little body to it’s exhausted mother as she took in the image of her child’s face for the first time. I was given the privilege to be the one who wiped a precious little face and whispered, “Look momma! A tiny baby boy…he is absolutely perfect!” while tears of happiness mixed with droplets of sweat and settled on her relieved cheeks.<\/p>\n

\"\" Last semester I<\/em> got to deliver babies.\u00a0As it turns out that experience, one I never expected to be so supremely moved by, will soon become a part of my career. However, everyone doesn’t end up going into Obstetrics and Gynecology, but even so most remember their first experience with birth. Some will recall it as shocking or scary, others as bloody and jarring, but almost all will tell you it’s nothing short of amazing…even if they hate obstetrics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are few things we will distinctly remember from these years, but here’s a few experiences (some wonderful, others painfully\u00a0heart-wrenching) that I will never forget:<\/strong><\/p>\n