{"id":17861,"date":"2012-06-11T16:00:45","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=17861"},"modified":"2012-06-11T16:00:46","modified_gmt":"2012-06-11T15:00:46","slug":"magdalena-kincaid-surgical-teaching-on-the-mount-of-olives-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2012\/06\/11\/magdalena-kincaid-surgical-teaching-on-the-mount-of-olives-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Magdalena Kincaid: Surgical Teaching on the Mount of Olives – part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This morning we left the peaceful lutheran guesthouse in the grounds of the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) to start set-up for the first day of the basic surgical skills course (BSS) for Palestinian surgical trainees in the hospital. The morning sun was glaring and a haze lingered over distant views of the Dead Sea as we entered via the back entrance of the hospital, carrying boxes of course materials. David Sedgwick\u2014course convenor for the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, Ruth McKee, Ian Wallace, John Anderson, Robin and Magdalena Kincaid, Sarah Sholl\u2014manager of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh surgical skills laboratory, and surgeons from all parts of the UK (Fort William, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Truro) are the UK team running the course.<\/p>\n

Working as part of a team with a spirit of a common purpose makes all the tasks seem a tad more achievable. Once again this year the UK team and the Palestinian course co-ordinators experienced (possibly the most unusual) bonding exercises.\u00a0 Relentless attention to detail generated good quality \u201cabscesses,\u201d by filling glove-finger tips with mayonnaise and then tying up the filled tip into a small ball and tunnelling them under the skin of the turkey leg. The \u201cabscess\u201d then left a proud bump for the candidates to dissect. Banter (in a mix of Arabic and English) eased the workflow, as the exercise was repeated 21 times. The turkey legs were then prepared for the \u201ctraumatic wound\u201d debridement\u2014beads, gravel, and turmeric were used to create the \u201cinfected wound\u201d look. Military drill precision returned in the making of \u201csebaceous cysts\u201d using toothpaste filled glove fingertips pushed under the skin of shaven goat legs (yes, really). They were ready, only to be excised by trainees.<\/p>\n

It felt like a family occasion despite the incongruous sight of the preparation tables; blame it on the addictive warmth of friendship, if you will. My very basic level of Arabic only got slightly better, though.<\/p>\n

Whenever we need something, someone from the AVH theatre or sterilization unit always finds it for us, or knows a person who can. Being surrounded by such helpful people makes life unexpectedly good.<\/p>\n

The registration session in the AVH cloisters was a chance to meet the candidates pre-course. Only four surgeons from Gaza were allowed to attend\u2014the other two were refused entry this morning.<\/p>\n

Candidates seemed curious about the animal tissue\u2014a novelty in the Middle East.\u00a0 There were many eager young faces, open and cordial, and a lot of smiling and expectation in the room. Often before we had a chance to say \u201cAhlan wa sahlan\u201d (\u201cwelcome\u201d in Arabic), they said it to us instead.<\/p>\n

The practical part of the course starts tomorrow. It is only the first step, but the right one.\u00a0 As life journeys go here, it is no mean feat.<\/p>\n

See also:<\/p>\n