On this episode of White Coat Wednesday, we sit down with UQ-Ochsner fourth-year medical student Colton Paterson. Originally from Colorado, Colton went to the University of Colorado Boulder for his undergraduate degree and is now a board member of the Ochsner Medical Student Association surgery interest group.
Interviewed by fellow fourth-year student Nicholas Menzel, Colton shares his plan to create a surgical workshop aimed at third-year medical students and physician assistant students from Xavier University. Inspired by his own experience Colton identified an opportunity to foster relationships that will set these students up for the future. After noticing that the medical students and peers from the physician assistant program overlap very frequently in their learning environment, the idea came to create a surgical suturing workshop that would involve both cohorts.
The immediate goal for the workshop is to help gain technical proficiency in suture skills and hand tying before the third-year medical students and the physician assistant students go on to their surgical rotations. Further to this, it is a new opportunity for these individuals to come together and create relationships that will benefit their learning journey and their future careers, building solid foundations for team-based patient care.
The Surgery Interest Group (SIG) is focused around helping UQ-Ochsner students make themselves solid applicants for surgery residencies as international medical graduates (IMGs). Information nights cover topics like scheduling strategies for USMLE Step 2 CS/CK, electives and away rotations, establishing helpful mentor relationships, and how to seek out and explore various surgical specialties.
