The COOLEST clinical day EVER!!!

So guess what I did today?

I WATCHED OPEN HEART SURGERY!!!! (yes, i know many people do this all day, every day, but this was my first time, and i was impressed, dammit). I even got to help, as the circulating nurse got stuck holding a cellphone for the surgeon, so the PA didn't have anyone to fetch her suturing supplies and staples, so I volunteered. The circulating nurse said she was only half kidding when she offered me a job. :-p

The human heart freaking RULES. I mean...there it is! And it doesn't move like you'd think it would, it sort of torques around, and you can see the lungs inflate and deflate, and the shine of the diaphragm below them, and it's just...AWESOME. The nurse anesthetist showed me what sort of things you can do with airway management and surgical anesthetics, and the PA let me poke around at an extra piece of artery she wound up not needing. Its TOUGH.

All in all? BEST FREAKING DAY EVER!!!