One of the coolest things about internship is all the new places I get to go to. Today, I got to go into the Naval Hospital in Balboa Park, where Aaron Gallagher has an internship in the orthopedics department - this is a big deal, because civilians like myself don't usually get allowed in.
Aaron and his mentor, Andrew Shute, escorted me onto base (I won't try to get Andrew's rank right, suffice to say I'm pretty sure he's a petty officer - Andrew, correct me if I'm wrong) and brought me to the orthopedics room - it was empty because clinic had been cancelled for an emergency drill - so Aaron demonstrated how to apply and remove a cast for a wrist fracture, a skill Andrew and the rest of the team taught him last week. In the photo above you can see Aaron removing Andrew's cast with the saw - don't worry, Andrew's expression is strictly for the benefit of the camera.
On Aaron's first morning, he witnessed a major foot surgery - I'm glad to report they kept me far away from the operating theater, but it was great to see how much of hospital work he's getting to experience. His project will be a guide for teenagers to dealing with broken bones before they get to ER, because it's very easy to do things (such as trying to "straighten out" a fracture) that can do serious damage, and make the orthopedists' job much harder when they need to put you back together. Aaron hasn't decided on a format yet, but I'm hoping it'll be a video - especially given his mentor's flair for the dramatic.
Another day, another awesome visit to an awesome organization - I love internship.
You can read more about Aaron's internship at his blog here
Aaron and his mentor, Andrew Shute, escorted me onto base (I won't try to get Andrew's rank right, suffice to say I'm pretty sure he's a petty officer - Andrew, correct me if I'm wrong) and brought me to the orthopedics room - it was empty because clinic had been cancelled for an emergency drill - so Aaron demonstrated how to apply and remove a cast for a wrist fracture, a skill Andrew and the rest of the team taught him last week. In the photo above you can see Aaron removing Andrew's cast with the saw - don't worry, Andrew's expression is strictly for the benefit of the camera.
On Aaron's first morning, he witnessed a major foot surgery - I'm glad to report they kept me far away from the operating theater, but it was great to see how much of hospital work he's getting to experience. His project will be a guide for teenagers to dealing with broken bones before they get to ER, because it's very easy to do things (such as trying to "straighten out" a fracture) that can do serious damage, and make the orthopedists' job much harder when they need to put you back together. Aaron hasn't decided on a format yet, but I'm hoping it'll be a video - especially given his mentor's flair for the dramatic.
Another day, another awesome visit to an awesome organization - I love internship.
You can read more about Aaron's internship at his blog here