surgery

Cardiac arrest is one of the most feared complications in medicine as it tends to usually precede death despite appropriate interventions. However, a controlled cardiac arrest is routinely utilized as part of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) to…

This post outlines the steps in traditional, central cannulation for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Depending on the nature of the surgery and patient's comorbidities, other sites are often cannulated (left heart bypass, femoral-femoral…

During my surgery and pediatrics rotations, I wrote down things related to practice questions I did and compiled them into a PDF for anyone who wants to review the "high yield" topics without having to go through hundreds of questions…

I'm continuing to enjoy an incredible breadth of cases in neurosurgery - deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's, the orbitozygomatic approach for a middle fossa tumor, ventricular explorations, and laminectomies are some of the latest cases…

The first day of any new rotation is always tough, but today was utterly painful from a logistics standpoint. We started rounding at 5:30am, but instead of being able to reset my password for computer access, I had to wait till later in the…

It's the rotation that I was waiting for since January... the three months which would show me whether or not the career I wanted to pursue coming into medical school was really my best fit. In retrospect, I think it is. :-)

Hearing loss, "ringing" in the ears, and dizziness/vertigo are three of the most common things I've seen in the ENT clinic, and a proper workup during the initial encounter can provide valuable information regarding the etiology. In the…

A brief walkthrough of a total parotidectomy (removal of the parotid salivary gland). You can easily visualize the sternocleidomastoid and masseter muscles, carotid artery, and the major branches of the facial nerve - a structure for which…

Ophthalmology. O-p-h-t-h-a-l-m-o-l-o-g-y. Yes, the word has two 'h's in it. Apparently, this fact is very high yield for testing purposes. :-D

I'm halfway done with my ENT surgery selective, and as expected, I'm really enjoying the experience!