Month: April 2022
The Balance Beam
By Sara Ashai There are days where everything goes wrong, but there are also days where everything goes right. Most days, we sit somewhere in the middle. Our voice stays quiet some days, some days it wants to yell, and some days our voice yells at ourselves. When I was a first year medical student, I was quiet. I came straight through undergrad and was one of the youngest in the class. I felt scared to speak up. I came into medical school wanting to do psychiatry. Interpersonal skills with patients are one of my strengths and I was passionate about mental health, so I thought psychiatry fit that scheme. As the first year continued, I spoke to residents who told me that there was a need for more Pakistani women to go into OB/GYN or any surgical field. Thus, I considered it quietly. Never did I consider myself to...
Growing Pains
By Olivia Cheng “What are you doing?” This was the forever question my mentor would ask me in the operating room when we worked together. It was often paired with “Go faster,” “Slow down,” or “Stop thinking so much.” Anyone who has worked with her knows that she is quick and efficient but safe. She would only push you to be better. I have been incredibly fortunate these past four years to have such a mentor with whom I have connected so well. Naturally, I was drawn to her as a fellow Burmese-Chinese female surgeon but she is so much more. She has been my most valuable ally and harshest critic. There was always something I could do better, and I liked that about her. It was what drew me to surgery from the beginning - the aspiration to obtain perfection that was just within your grasp, but ever so...
“Why is there a dentist in the operating room?”
By Juliana Gomez, DDS I loved dentistry. The autonomy of private practice, the (relatively) shorter training, the immediate gratification when you are able to fix a problem or alleviate someone’s pain in a single visit. My path was altered when I chose to pursue Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) residency—but I remember my time in dental school and the smiles that I fixed quite fondly. That being said, the last filling that I performed was in school about three years ago, and I do not exactly miss doing root canals. Dentists are experts in treatment of the mouth, where they cover an enormous range of disciplines- surgery, prevention, restoration, and preservation of the health of the oral cavity. We work closely, on occasion, with our dental colleagues. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons have a much different scope of practice than dentists. After graduating dental school (NYU 19’), I began an intern...
The Changing Face of Global Surgery: An Upcoming TweetChat
By Dr. Dominique Vervoort Five billion people continue to lack access to safe, timely, and affordable surgical healthcare when needed. As a result, more than 17 million people die from surgically treatable conditions every year, more than five times as many deaths as due to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Contrary to historical misperceptions, surgical healthcare is favorably cost-effective, including when compared to many common global health interventions. Moreover, without investing in surgical healthcare, low- and middle-income countries are projected to face a potential loss of socioeconomic growth of up to $12.3 trillion by 2030. Surgical healthcare was once coined the “neglected stepchild of global health” by Dr. Paul Farmer and Dr. Jim Kim. Progress in recent years, with the growth of academic global surgery and national and international policy commitments, suggests that surgery may no longer be a neglected stepchild; however, it is clear that there is much work...