Well, the time finally came where we learned how to suture! This was the part of PA school I was most looking forward to for some reason =p I have watched many PA's throw hundreds of sutures, I have set up more suture carts than I can count, but I have never thrown my own sutures. PA's from the ER where I work walk me through their processes and how they go about making the perfect stitch and the basic do's and don't's of repairing wounds. That being said, I felt comfortable with the idea of sewing up a wound, but the thing that worried me the most was manipulating the tools gracefully. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about, there are multiple tools used to properly suture: forceps, sutures with needles (of varying kinds), scissors and local anesthetic. Watching the movies uploaded for our "pre-lab" I flashed back to my days as an ER tech and tried to remember all the tips that were ever told to me. (Honestly, I was so excited about this lab that I couldn't remember much). We were given practice sutures, tools and pigs feet to practice on! What I was not prepared for was how difficult the skin on the pigs feet was. The practice sutures were not exactly the sharpest needles, so it was rather difficult to pierce the skin of the pigs foot. Needless to say, I was feeling defeated, I could not tighten my tools enough to hold the needle and get through the pig's skin. Maybe this wouldn't be my favorite thing like I thought. However, after throwing a few first practice stitches, the instructors gave us some real, (much more sharp) sutures. Once I started working with the real stuff, suturing became so much easier, and much more fun! I regained some confidence and actually didn't want that lab to end. I almost wish it was a monthly lab where we could have practiced again and again. Thankfully, the instructors let us take some practice material home to buy our own pig's feet/meat and fix 'em up!
All in all, this was definitely my favorite part of the semester, even though it was only one lab session, it was the foundation to something I will be doing the rest of my life in surgery or ER.
All in all, this was definitely my favorite part of the semester, even though it was only one lab session, it was the foundation to something I will be doing the rest of my life in surgery or ER.