Chris Porter, MD

Chris Porter is a general surgeon.

November 7, 2014Nov 7, 2014

I was recently injecting anesthetic into a boil for incision and drainage. The abscess swelled and returned an arcing spray of lidocaine laden with blood and pus, soaking the thigh of my cotton scrub pants. A cheap plastic gown would have protected me — I usually wear one. But I couldn’t find one and had other tasks waiting. My mind went to Ebola and exposed nurse necks.

What if this were …

Physicians

Secrets of the VA that aren’t being reported

Chris Porter, MD

June 11, 2014Jun 11, 2014

I’ve worked at a few VA medical centers, including four years at the Phoenix VA. I’d like to report something missed in the media storm. Before spilling secrets, though, I’ll dispense with the non-secrets. Everyone who has entered a VA…

1. The system is overwhelmed. While we might have planned for the increasing needs of aging Vietnam-era vets, I doubt anyone predicted two long wars or the number of …

Physicians

Is a board certified surgeon a safer one?

Chris Porter, MD

May 3, 2013May 3, 2013

Am I safe surgeon, or merely a board certified one? I usually spend Tuesdays fixing elective hernias. But the other day I was asked to clear a c-spine, handle an unexpected gynecologic finding, manage a pediatric trauma, resuscitate a septic…

Am I safe surgeon, or merely a board certified one?

I usually spend Tuesdays fixing elective hernias. But the other day I was asked to clear a c-spine, handle an unexpected gynecologic finding, manage a pediatric trauma, resuscitate a septic ICU patient, and opine on a neck dissection. No, I wasn’t in Africa or 1985; I was sitting in front of a computer …

Education

Can I do residency again in a better rested environment?

Chris Porter, MD

October 13, 2011Oct 13, 2011

"How are residents supposed to prepare for real life as a surgeon if they can’t even work twenty-four hours straight now?" I hear this complaint about once a month from a someone trained in the Golden Age of hazing. Outside…

“How are residents supposed to prepare for real life as a surgeon if they can’t even work twenty-four hours straight now?”

I hear this complaint about once a month from a someone trained in the Golden Age of hazing. Outside of anecdote, we’ll never know if surgeons are better trained now or twenty years ago, or fifty. But it’s too painful to imagine every-other-night-call wasn’t of critical importance.

Residency resembles the …

Physicians

If I could pick patients, they would be Native American Guatemalans

Chris Porter, MD

July 25, 2011Jul 25, 2011

Spent a sweaty week operating in a hilltop Hospital Nacional in Guatemala a while back. A patient gave me a hat in thanks for her surgery. It’s a full-brimmed canvas safari number – I’m sure Hemingway shot a rhino in…

Spent a sweaty week operating in a hilltop Hospital Nacional in Guatemala a while back.

A patient gave me a hat in thanks for her surgery. It’s a full-brimmed canvas safari number – I’m sure Hemingway shot a rhino in one. I’m just mature enough now to value sun protection and always grateful, sometimes to the point of pain, for gifts from those who have almost nothing. I was also …

Physicians

How a family conference affects the decision for surgery

Chris Porter, MD

April 29, 2011Apr 29, 2011

"Treat your patients as you would your own loved ones," is advice taught throughout training in health care. Great advice. I use it constantly. Mr. Davis is dying of multiple organ failure in the ICU after exploratory abdominal surgery. His…

“Treat your patients as you would your own loved ones,” is advice taught throughout training in health care.

Great advice. I use it constantly. Mr. Davis is dying of multiple organ failure in the ICU after exploratory abdominal surgery. His siblings and children trickle in from Florida and Montana.

I’m always sorry for the last to arrive, who visits his dying brother’s bedside minutes before the family conference. …