"This is like Grey's Anatomy!" The visit to the BBG Berliner Bildungscampus für Gesundheitsberufe gGmbH (link: https://www.bildungscampus-berlin.de/ ) on June 22, 2024 made a big impression on the IB Biology course! Future surgical assistants (OTAs) are trained in original operating theaters on the grounds of Vivantes Neukölln Hospital in practical teaching units. Our students were able to gain a compact insight into everyday school and work life in four hours.
At the beginning, all the participants were "smuggled" into the operating theater, i.e. their everyday clothes were exchanged for the green scrubs with hoods. After an initial overview of the occupational field and the day's program, hand hygiene was on the agenda. "Disinfecting your hands correctly can save lives, as most infections in hospitals (nosocomial infections) are transmitted via this route," says Maik Jelinski, medical educator and teacher at the BBG. And so that the result could be checked, the disinfected hands were held under a black light lamp to show any gaps in wetting, oha, some places were forgotten!
Before moving on to the operating theater, all the common devices used for surgery in the operating theater were explained in more detail, such as the anesthesia machine or the high-frequency surgical device used with the help of electricity. The advantage of this technology is that bleeding can be stopped more quickly and operations run more smoothly.
Now to "chicken leg surgery"! Here our students had the opportunity to learn something for life, namely the surgical treatment of a skin injury with original materials. They practiced treatment using a single button. The students also dared to try the visually more attractive but technically more difficult intracutaneous suturing technique. Mr. Jelinski and Ms. Kiesewalter demonstrated every step very competently and with the patience of a saint. Everyone had great fun giving the chicken legs professional medical care!
Finally, our course learned about patient positioning techniques for transferring potentially unwell patients from the hospital bed to the operating table, where they can be comfortably prepared for surgery.
There was also room for questions and experiences. For example, about particularly memorable working moments. For Ms. Kiesewalter, these were/are special organ transplants such as heart transplants. As a former head of department at the military hospital in Hamburg, Mr. Jelinski remembers particularly challenging care situations, including during his deployment in Afghanistan.
Our morning was a unique and unforgettable experience thanks to the varied tasks, use of media and passionate educational presentations as well as practical experience. We were able to gain a first impression of all the tasks that have to be learned for the almost 5000 hours of training to become an OTA. By the way, an important task before an operation is also to count the devices...so that none are forgotten in the patient!
Our IB Biology Course 2024, Dr. Dr. Cordela Premkumar and Dr. Astrid Ahke would like to express their heartfelt thanks on behalf of the Nelson Mandela School!
More information about the program and visit:
https://padlet.com/jelinski21/klassenbesuch-skills-op-w08npjcsyikfhkjn
https://padlet.com/jelinski21/klassenbesuch-skills-op-w08npjcsyikfhkjn/wish/lDK1ZRO2BJbpWJ9z
