Getting Started

Well it's the end of week one and it's already been a whirlwind of experiences. I got off to a slow start since my clinician, Dr. Scherr was in Ithaca on Monday, but it's definitely picked up since then. Tuesday is Dr. Scherr's day in the clinic, so we met with a number of patients for follow up visits (3 mo - 3 years out). I think the most interesting case was a patient from Europe who had discovered testicular cancer while in the states on business. So while Dr. Scherr operated on him, the post-op treatments would be done back in Europe. What was so interesting was to see how Dr. Scherr was not only a resource for this patient’s disease status, but also was familiar with differences in treatments in Europe versus the states and able to recommend a physician for the patient in his home country.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are all surgery days for Dr. Scherr which this week included: a robotic cystectomy, a partial nephrectomy, a pelvic cancer mass removal, the robotic removal of a urachal carcinoma and three robotic prostatectomies. The best part of robotic surgeries for me is that I get to watch them on a screen rather than try to hover over the patient with three surgeons and multiple nurses. Of course Dr. Scherr also met with patients in the clinic between surgeries, so he kept very busy. To be honest, I'm absolutely amazed at how he keeps it all straight from current surgeries to phone calls about referral surgeries, from new patients being diagnosed to the round reports he receives from his residents; it’s crazy! At this point, I’m still learning all the terms for the diagnoses and surgeries, but can’t wait to see more and learn more.