SurgeXperiences 120 & Cabinet of Curiosities
April 28, 2008 § Leave a comment
The twentieth edition of SurgeXperiences – the one and only surgical blog carnival – is up at one of the most successful and well-written surgical blogs of them all, Sid Schwab’s Surgeonsblog.
He’s actually accompanied every submitted post with a limerick of it’s own. Here is his rhyme about my post Hand in gloves:
This article sends out the love
To surgeons who don double gloves.
It’s not that it’s dumb
But my hands feel numb;
I say “no” ‘less there’s cameras above.
Brilliant! And I’m hosting the next edition. Call for submissions will be up soon.
Another post of mine, Paean to the pean, is featured in a carnival I’ve never heard of before. It’s called Cabinet of Curiosities, and the current edition is hosted by the blog Bioephemera. According to carnival founder Tim it’s:
(…) the blog carnival that celebrates the stories behind the notable stuff that clutters up our lives and living spaces, and most especially those oddities of natural history, relics of bygone days, mementos, talismans, specimens and ephemera that you and I have kept for all these years.
Nice carnival. Check it out!
Detachment
April 21, 2008 § 1 Comment
Many people find interest in surgery to be incomprehensible and even a bit bizarre, referring to the diseases and inevitable memento mori the subject implies.
Lately I’ve been asking myself the question: Would I be as interested in surgery and anatomy if I wasn’t so detached from these implications myself? « Read the rest of this entry »
Hand in gloves
April 17, 2008 § 9 Comments
Several studies have shown that wearing two pairs of surgical gloves offer more protection against perforations than single gloving. Wearing a pair of colored indicator gloves as inner gloves makes it much easier to detect glove perforation during surgery.
But it’s for entirely different reasons I like surgeons who double glove.
« Read the rest of this entry »
Recording speech in the OR
April 12, 2008 § Leave a comment
I recently got a question via the contact form concerning the recording of speech in the OR. As this may be interesting to others I post the question and my answer here. Please don’t hesitate to ask me about anything related to medical or surgical videography. I’m more than happy to share my “expertise” (for what it’s worth). « Read the rest of this entry »
Check out SurgeXperiences 119
April 12, 2008 § Leave a comment
Edition 119 of SurgeXperiences – the one and only (I think) surgical blog carnival – is up at Marianas Eye.
I don’t know if it’s a sterile eye, but it nonetheless belongs to eye surgeon David Khorram, a native of Saipan, and a guy with a great sense of humor. The comments to his edition of surgeXperiences are very funny. Here’s what he said about my post “Yo mammae”:
“I was filming a nipple reconstruction…” Thus begins a “Tale of Two… ” um, no, I’m not going to say it… thus begins a tale by Norwegian surgical videographer, The Sterile Eye, who presents Yo mammae! That sentence is sure to become a classic in medical blogging literature. I give Sterile Eye the “Call me Ishmael” Award (which I just created) for week’s best opening sentence of a Carnival post.
You should also check out his thoughts on irritated eyes. Great stuff!
Edition 120 will be hosted by none other than Dr Sid Schwab of Surgeonsblog, on April 27.
SurgeXperiences archive and schedule can be found here. Please consider hosting an edition.
Hand drill brain surgery
March 31, 2008 § 4 Comments
BBC has an interesting story about a British neurosurgeon who regularly travels to Ukraine to share his expertise and help with difficult operations.
In lack of surgical equipment the Ukrainian surgeons improvise, using a domestic Bosch hand drill for making the holes in the patient’s cranium during brain surgery. « Read the rest of this entry »
Check out SurgeXperiences 118
March 30, 2008 § Leave a comment
Edition 118 of SurgeXperiences – the biweekly surgical blog carnival – is up at OpNotes.
SurgeXperiences collects the most interesting and compelling posts from the surgical department of the medical blogosphere.
OpNotes is a blog featuring informal discussions about new procedures, products, and ideas in the operating room.
All previous editions of SurgeXperiences can be found here.
If your blog touches on surgery in any way, you should absolutely consider hosting an edition. Here’s how.
Check out SurgeXperiences 117
March 16, 2008 § 3 Comments
Edition 117 of SurgeXperiences – the blog carnival of all things surgical – is up at one of my favorite blogs, Suture for a Living.
This fortnight’s edition is especially rich in content, ranging from stories of resuscitation to anatomical street art.
Suture for a Living is the blog of Ramona L. Bates, plastic surgeon and quilter. As she says: “I may ‘suture for a living’, but I ‘live to sew’.” I always thought embroidering would be the perfect hobby for a surgeon. I was almost right. Dr. Bates’ blog contains insightful and educational posts from the wide field of plastic surgery. Be sure to check it out!
All previous editions of SurgeXperiences can be found here.
Please consider heeding the call for hosts.
The next edition of SurgeXperiences is hosted at OpNotes on March 30th.
Amateur Surgeon
March 9, 2008 § 15 Comments

A free online flash game called Amateur Surgeon has got me addicted this weekend.
You play Alan Probe, a pizza delivery guy who’s always wanted to be a surgeon. Driving your truck while reading “Top 100 gross surgeries” you crash into an old guy and have to perform emergency surgery. « Read the rest of this entry »
Retirement
March 8, 2008 § Leave a comment

Time passes relentlessly in any profession. Retirement may come as a welcome reward after a long working life, or it may come as an unwanted end. Or so I guess. I’m not even halfway there. Lately I’ve had the pleasure of working with two recently retired surgeons. It seems to me retirement can be a more drastic moment in mentor based professions like surgery.
« Read the rest of this entry »