Written by: McMaster Medical School c2023 Student, Hamilton Campus Where was your placement and what specialty was it in?
Etobicoke General Hospital - General Surgery for my post-MF4 elective in 1st year. How did you get to the elective? Did you get any funding from the school (MacCare etc?) I drove to this hospital, you need a car to get here. I paid $45 for the monthly parking pass (it was cheaper than the day parking rate). On the first day, I parked at the staff parking lot (Lot K) and buzzed in to the parking office to get let in. I believe this location is eligible for MacCare funding. Describe a typical day at your elective. I was placed at a number of different locations within the general surgery department. Some days, I was placed at the operating room where I had the chance to see a lot of cases and even assist with a few. There was a few clinics throughout the week as well. I attended the breast clinic where we assessed women who either were diagnosed with or had suspected breast cancer. I also spent a day watching colonoscopies and ECG scopes. Finally I also spent some time at a rapid clinic where some stable patients who were seen in the emergency department were assessed a few days later. I also setup my pager number with the hospital so that any pages from the wards or emergency department came to my cellphone. The hours were usually 8-4ish. What level of responsibility/exposure did you have as a medical student? I was almost always scrubbed in at the OR and was able to help put in sutures, hold retractors etc. In the clinic I took on more of a shadowing role as many of the cases had very specific complaints and the attending didn't want me to feel overwhelmed as a first year medical student. Answering the pages was also a great learning opportunity, I would review these with the attending on ACS that week. What are some things to review about before this elective? This site sees a lot of bread and butter general surgery cases. For the OR, definitely review lap appys and choles and hernia repairs. They were also a fair number of breast surgeries done. Breast cancer is the must-read topic for the breast clinic. For the other clinic I would suggest reading about hemmorhoids, anal fissures, toe nail removals and pilonidal cysts. It would also be helpful to review small bowel obstruction and develop a good differential to abdominal pain for the rotation. What is your most memorable experience? I loved all the teaching sessions with the attendings- they were really kind! What was one thing you didn’t like? Honestly can't think of anything- I wish it was longer! What’s one piece of future advice you have for students doing an elective here in the future? Tell the attendings what you're interested in and they will really cater the experience to this! Would you recommend this elective to current students? Yes! All the attendings I met were extremely kind and invested in teaching. There were multiple teaching sessions throughout the week and I really felt like I learned a lot. I would definitely suggest this site if you want more of a hands-on, personal rotation.
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Etobicoke General Hospital, background credit: hcr-moves.com
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