Fernando: Clinical Internship Program at RWJMS

This summer, I was lucky enough to be part of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s clinical internship program. Officially, I was chosen to be part of the Acute Care Surgery Team, which consisted of a surgical rotation that broke down into three parts: Trauma Surgery, Emergency General Surgery, and SICU (Surgical Intensive Care Unit). This gave me some really incredible exposure to the area of medicine that I hope to end up working in someday. From everyday surgical procedures like appendectomies and gallbladder removals, to more serious traumas like motor vehicle collisions and crush injuries, I got to see some really incredible cases. I got to learn a lot about trauma medicine and surgical procedures from the attendings, fellows, and residents on our team, both in the trauma bay as well as inside the operating room. While on the SICU portion of my rotation, I also got to learn a lot about long term care of surgical patients and the decision- making process that happens outside the OR regarding their care.

While a large portion of my time was spent working with trauma, there’s only so many traumas that come in every day, and so many surgeries they can perform, so the other half of my time was spent hunting for surgeries in the OR. The freedom to explore different surgical fields really opened my eyes to how the different specialties work. I got to spend a lot of my time working with some very skilled plastic surgeons, whose surgeries were incredibly detailed and complex, from salvaging limbs to performing microsurgery to completely building a new trachea for a patient using thigh tissue. I also got to spend time with orthopedic surgery, OBGYN, transplant surgery, and even got to see deep brain stimulation during a neurosurgery.

Outside of spending time in surgery and learning directly from surgeons, the program also consisted of a lecture series. These lectures were given by doctors in several fields, ranging from psychology, to pediatric surgery, to emergency medicine and how to address trauma injuries. Some of our acute care surgical attendings lead one of our lectures, training us in Stop the Bleed protocol, to know how to control hemorrhage if we ever encounter it. As part of the Acute Care Surgical team, I also got to attend both the daily meetings that our team had as well as the meetings that the entire surgical staff needed to attend, and got to sit in on some of the lectures and trainings that our residents participated in.

Overall, my summer at RWJMS was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had, and it was definitely the best choice for me, as I really wanted to have a more on-site and practical learning of medicine right away, especially regarding surgery, as opposed to the research path that most Penn students choose to follow. I got to work with and learn from an incredible medical staff, saw some really unbelievable procedures, and made a lot of great contacts at the medical school that I hope to attend someday. And on top of everything I learned, I also developed some great friendships with the other interns on my rotation!