With Dr. Moore away at a conference this week, most of us took a
dvantage of the chance to do some research for their independent study projects. Since we didn’t have class on Thursday (with so many students visiting Hannover), I had the opportunity to revisit the Bonn University Clinic and shadow an orthopedic surgeon there, Dr. Pierre Gröbel. After arriving at the clinic, I more-or-less successfully navigated my way to the surgical floor and a very helpful nurse guided me to the “operating theater” where Dr. Gröbel was working on transplanting a hip prosthetic. The surgery was already well underway, and I was provided a stool to observe the operation and (jokingly) warned that if I fell off and contaminated the sterile equipment, I would be beaten. Dr. Gröbel kept up this lighthearted mood, bantering throughout the surgery, and he really seemed to enjoy explaining to me what he was doing and why. I got to see a lot of interesting new technology, including some ultra-low friction ceramic materials and special cement (used for strengthening because of the patient’s brittle bones) that dries within seven to eight minutes of mixing. After this surgery, Cameron joined us and we all had some time to talk before the next surgery (also a hip replacement). We finished off the day watching a really interesting knee replacement. It was incredible the amount of sawing and other carpentry-reminiscent techniques that were involved. There was a certain block-and-pin combination that made sure everything was shaped with the right angles, and then the prosthetic was fitted right on and screwed into place. Awesome stuff!
dvantage of the chance to do some research for their independent study projects. Since we didn’t have class on Thursday (with so many students visiting Hannover), I had the opportunity to revisit the Bonn University Clinic and shadow an orthopedic surgeon there, Dr. Pierre Gröbel. After arriving at the clinic, I more-or-less successfully navigated my way to the surgical floor and a very helpful nurse guided me to the “operating theater” where Dr. Gröbel was working on transplanting a hip prosthetic. The surgery was already well underway, and I was provided a stool to observe the operation and (jokingly) warned that if I fell off and contaminated the sterile equipment, I would be beaten. Dr. Gröbel kept up this lighthearted mood, bantering throughout the surgery, and he really seemed to enjoy explaining to me what he was doing and why. I got to see a lot of interesting new technology, including some ultra-low friction ceramic materials and special cement (used for strengthening because of the patient’s brittle bones) that dries within seven to eight minutes of mixing. After this surgery, Cameron joined us and we all had some time to talk before the next surgery (also a hip replacement). We finished off the day watching a really interesting knee replacement. It was incredible the amount of sawing and other carpentry-reminiscent techniques that were involved. There was a certain block-and-pin combination that made sure everything was shaped with the right angles, and then the prosthetic was fitted right on and screwed into place. Awesome stuff! I really enjoyed the additional chance to spend some time up in the operating room, and the firsthand look at the prosthetic devices and their transplantation in the body. Working on this project is so much more exciting since it involves personal experience with the topic in addition to the textual research!
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