Week 8: Peter

 We've reached the end of immersion. I was able to get results from the pathologist and have made some changes to my image processing to improve my accuracy, but it probably won't achieve a super polished final state. I'll have enough to make the poster and report though so that's good. I saw a couple more robotic surgeries with Dr. Rocca this week including a liver cyst fenestration and a gall bladder removal. The cyst case was super interesting as they drained over 3 liters of fluid. I had no idea that these cysts could get so large. I also got to see Dr. Rocca coaching a resident and fellow through the procedure and how best to use the robot effectively. Seeing the skill disparity between these three different operators was super interesting. Though Dr. Rocca has only been doing robot surgery for five years, he moves so comfortably with the robot. I also got to see the team try out a new tool, the M-close kit, to close the holes in the fascia from the laparoscopic ports. A representative from the company taught the team how to use the device and then they used it on the patient. It seemed to make the closure easier and more consistent but I'd be curious to see how it compares over longer time scales. Does it reduce the rate of hernia? I also had my last day in the Dr. Chandwani's clinic. I got to see the follow up for the patient who'd gotten a whipple. While getting her staples removed, she detailed some of the discomfort she had experienced with the hospital workers after the procedure. She found the large number of unfamiliar nurses frightening especially when they were moving her to a new room. I hadn't really thought of this before, but I wonder if it would be beneficial to have a first nurse, who the patient has already met, introduce the patient to the second nurse when staff needs to change out. This could help to ensure that patient feels like they can trust each person that cares for them.