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Fri Mar 30 12:36:03 BST 2007

My wife is quite sick of me telling her about this course I would love to
attend some day. Then again the pilgrimage will eat up the equivalent of 6
months pay. I have bought a lottery ticket though... Fingers crossed.

S Muzammil, FRCS
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mohammed al Malik" <traumawon at hotmail.com>
To: <trauma-list at trauma.org>
Sent: Friday, 30 March, 2007 6:10 AM
Subject: Surgery, Trauma, Surgical Critical Care

>
>
> I have returned to LA after my annual trek to the Medical Mecca, known as
> the Las Vegas, Caesars Palace PGC in "Trauma, Critical Care, Acute Care
> Surgery."  Here in Southern California, we call it the "Mattox".   I
prefer
> to have renamed it "Surgery, Trauma, Surgical Critical Care."
>
> Withoiut question, this is the most exacting, focused educational
experience
> of my entire year.  It is like drinking from a fire hose.   One cannot
miss
> a single lecture, as each has its continuing and practical lessons for
> todays surgical practice.
>
> The overwhelming mood was the move back to what "General Surgery" was 25
> years ago.  The term "Acute Care Surgery" is merely a political attempt to
> reclaim open, "big, bad, surgery."  There was strong sentiment not to
create
> a special fellowhip in acute care surgery, but merely reinvent what
general
> surgery was for decades.    This course identified many difficult surgical
> challenges in abdominal surgery, thoracic surgery, trauma surgery,
surgical
> critical care, vascular surgery, surgical oncology, which should and are
> most frequently managed by the "general surgeon" in most community
> hospitals.   The faculty repeatedly asked the question or concern, "Who
will
> take care of me in 10 years when I have a big surgical emergency?"
>
> A second sobering theme was depression which occurs in the critical care
or
> disaster sitting.   Dr. Brad Scott also indicated that doctors and nurses
> also get depressed and cited some alarming symptoms which I see often in
my
> colleagues here in this up scale hospital.    He stated we must look out
to
> not if our colleagues are shoiwing these symptoms and get them to help.
>
> Dr. Asher Hirshberg's two talks were among the best lectures I have ever
> heard on any subject at any conference anywhere in the world.   The first
> talk on "Taking the Plunge, the Crash Laparotomy" was worth the price of
the
> course and transportation and hotel to get there.    FANTASTIC.  His
> disaster talk was the most insightful truthful talk I have ever heard on
the
> subject.   Every health worker must hear this talk and understand the
> sobering facts that we are NOT ready and NOT engaged.
>
> The entire disaster section was sobering.  The Katrina-18 months later
talk
> by Dr. Mattox gave many depressing facts.  I was amazed, surprised, and
> chilled when he stated that with all of the positioning for future
> recognition, there have been increases in public health, governmental,
> authority, funding, EOC, health care, and trauma silos and that we are in
> WORSE state of preparedness than before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.
>
> I will return to my Medical Mecca next year.
>
> Mohamed al Malik
>
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