Don't Judge Oral Surgery by its Cover....

A couple of weeks ago I had a scheduled rotation in Oral Surgery at the hospital.  I didn't know what to expect so I asked around to gain insight about what this particular rotation would be like.  I was informed that I needed to prepare for the absolute worst.  "The doctors are rude!"and "You won't have ANYTHING to do!" were the two most common responses that I received.  This type of feedback immediately put me on edge about going to oral surgery and I even thought about asking faculty if I could just stay at our clinic where I knew how things were ran, but I knew in my mind that was NOT EVEN an option.  That being said, 1:50pm came around and it was time to make my way to the hospital to get to oral surgery.  When I arrived I told the women working at the front desk I was there on a rotation and she swiped me into the operatory area.  Walking in, I was nervous and didn't know what to do.  I didn't know who to talk to, therefore I just offered a loud hello to anyone that was willing to respond.  All heads turned and replied "HELLO!".  Not what I expected, but I was grateful nevertheless.  I took the initiative to ask one of the residents exactly what was going to be happening that particular day and what I could do while there.  He told me EVERYTHING that was happening.  He even offered for me to help him with a procedure.  Again, not what I was expecting, but I was grateful.  After assisting him, he offered a kind thank you, and even gave me extra information about the procedure that had taken place.  Once again, not what I was expecting.  The rest of this rotation was fulled we doctors that were willing to let me assist them during procedures, nurses and assistants who were friendly, and knowledge about something that I may not have known beforehand.  In all this rotation turned out to be one of my favorites.  In a way I'm glad that I came in with my guards up, because they totally proved me wrong and it turned out to be a great experience.