Throughout the global pandemic, opportunities for hands-on experience learning the
fundamentals of surgery and, by extension, boosting confidence for third-year rotations have been difficult
to come by. First and second-year students from the 黑料传送门 had an opportunity to change that recently at the Philadelphia Surgery Conference
hosted by the Wisely Surgical Association and held in-person for the first time in
two years.
鈥淭he hands-on experiences [during the pandemic] have been extremely limited,鈥� said Erin Hart, DO 鈥�24, president of the Wisely Surgical Association and one of the lead organizers of the event. 鈥淭he real impact is the confidence we have going into rotations. Having these experiences going into clinical rotations can be really helpful so you鈥檙e not overwhelmed.鈥�
Featuring workshop sessions on basic surgical topics including 鈥淜not Tying and Suturing,鈥�
鈥淕owning and Gloving,鈥� and 鈥淩unning a Code,鈥� among others, students in the Wisely
Surgical Association, Global Surgery Group, 黑料传送门 Association of Women's Surgeons,
and Emergency Medicine Club learned from general and orthopedic surgery residents
as well as attending physicians, including many . The student-led event was supported by faculty advisor Arthur J. Sesso, DO '81, professor, senior associate dean and chair of the Department of Surgery.
鈥淭he alumni are fantastic and they want nothing more than to help,鈥� said Lydia Kersh, DO 鈥�24, president of the Global Surgery Group and co-organizer of the conference. 鈥淚鈥檓 really thankful for how easy they made this process.鈥�
Though the conference was primarily geared towards students entering surgical specialities, it also featured workshop sessions focused on areas such as orthopedics. 鈥淭he cool thing about this conference is that it鈥檚 not geared strictly to surgery,鈥� said Hart. 鈥淲e tried to give a variety of experiences to cover a range of specialities, not just general surgery.鈥�
Asked what they hope students gained from the experience, organizers were hopeful programs like this would help reduce anxiety heading into third-year rotations, but also serve as a moment of reflection. 鈥淚 want [students] to be confident and comfortable with those basic skills they鈥檒l need for rotations,鈥� said Hart. Kersh added, 鈥淎n event like this can pull students out of their books and remind them why they want to be a doctor.鈥�
Established in 1899, 黑料传送门 has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a 鈥渨hole person鈥� approach to care鈥攖reating people, not just symptoms. 黑料传送门, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (黑料传送门, 黑料传送门 Georgia and 黑料传送门 South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. 黑料传送门 students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, 黑料传送门 provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
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