A visit to my daughter’s class to discuss surgery and surgeons
This week I had the wonderful experience of speaking to my 4 ½ year old daughter’s pre-school class about surgery—and possibly inspiring future plastic surgeons in New York.
They have been studying the body in class and had a visit by another parent, an internal medicine specialist who demonstrated how she examines people using devices such as a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff.
My wife and the teacher suggested I come in and talk about surgery. I was incredibly nervous; what can I talk to 16 4- to 5-year-olds about?
I started the morning by wearing surgical scrubs and my cleanest sneakers. I bestowed each child with a medical degree for the day; as they introduced themselves, I had them call themselves doctor. Dr. X xxx, Dr. Yyyy, Dr. Zzzz , etc.
We discussed that there are several different kinds of doctors, such as pediatricians, medical doctors, dentists, and of course, surgeons. Sometimes surgery is necessary when medicine doesn’t work.
We talked about how clean an operating room is. Each child put on (or was helped with), surgical booties, hats, and masks. We then discussed special hand washing: 5 times for each side of the hands, then the arms. This was simulated by each one with a dry scrub brush followed by a surgical towel. Lastly, each put on blue gloves.
My daughter chose a doll as a patient. We discussed how a mask is used by a doctor called an anesthesiologist, whose very important job it is to make sure that the patients are asleep and don’t feel anything. I taped on an IV, then used a mask to “put the patient to sleep.” Following that, I demonstrated some surgical instruments and then sewed up patients.
We finished by discussing the body. The heart pumps blood to the body. The brain helps us think, talk, see, hear, and move. Bones support the body. I brought a gold-painted simulated skull. The finale was when I opened the top, and it was filled with candy.
Whew! This was more nerve-racking than surgery. It went extremely well, and I cannot describe how wonderful I felt after sharing and perhaps inspiring future plastic surgeons in New York. I made my daughter so proud. I wouldn’t trade the chance to share with my daughters and their friends for anything.
