Benjamin Bone Post #1

I started my internship on Monday with Dr. Wax who is an orthopedic hand surgeon working at Jefferson Orthopedics in Marrero. I chose to do my internship here because I am hoping to eventually  go to medical school after college to become an orthopedist. On my first day, I spent the morning at the clinic seeing patients with Dr. Wax.  Before we see each one, we review their paperwork and charts on the computer monitor, as well as their X-rays. Sometimes we would need to see their insurance claims, worker's comp, lawsuits, etc. if their injury affected some other aspect of their life. After we reviewed everything, we went into the room to greet the patient. Dr. Wax and I introduced ourselves and then we sat down to talk and ask them about their symptoms. After a close examination, Dr. Wax usually knew what the problem was just by the pain they were experiencing. Some of the cases we had to deal with were carpal tunnel, trigger finger, broken finger/hand, arthritis, ligament tears, torn rotator cuffs, and so many more. Sometimes we would only have to treat them with super strong anti-inflammatory meds, sometimes we put them in braces, and sometimes we would need to fix them through surgery. After the clinic, we went to lunch and drove to the surgery center to operate on some of his patients. There I got to observe four different surgeries: a broken ankle repair, carpel tunnel relief, a finger amputation, and a dermis repair of the finger. All of them were so cool to watch! Some of it was a little gross at first but really interesting to see! This has been my favorite part thus far. Here is a picture of me in my scrubs, hair cover, and mask.