The house job at Neurosurgery Department, Jinnah Hospital Lahore is designed to provide exposure to a wide array of neuro-critical and neurosurgical disease states.
The House Officers receive supervised training in application of neuro-critical care principles and procedural skills in the care of life threatening neurosurgical diseases. They are trained in advanced hemodynamic assessment and monitoring using arterial and central line catheterization along with sampling and understanding of arterial blood gas results. The house officers have opportunities to develop expertise in advanced airway management including endotracheal intubations, ventilator management and fiber optic bronchoscopy; multimodality neuro-monitoring including intracranial pressure monitoring and interpretation, external ventricular drain management and other diagnostic and therapeutic technologies. This provides the basis for understanding and implementing protocols for management of patients requiring advanced neuro-critical care like those with severe head injuries, application of CPR, diagnosis and counselling for brain death etc.
They are also assigned beds in wards where they learn neurological history taking and examination, the interpretation of radiological investigations, basics of wound care, treatment planning and up to date management of neurosurgical patients. The house officers are also allowed to assist all kinds of emergency and elective neurosurgical procedures. Formal and informal teaching sessions covering basic neurosurgical topics take place regularly. The clinical experience is further supplemented by case presentation conferences, daily teaching rounds and opportunities for advancing research for the motivated house surgeon.
“My house job rotation at the Department of Neurosurgery, Jinnah Hospital Lahore was indeed a rewarding experience. Basic neurosurgical emergency management is a mainstay of trauma management and for me, this Department proved to be a great platform, not only for procedural learning but also for the best possible ICU management of the patients. I had the opportunity to learn basic neurological history taking and examination along with management of spinal and cranial trauma. My experience also allowed me to perform minor emergency surgical procedures and to act as a second assistant to a team of highly qualified neurosurgeons, which was a cherry on top. Overall, it was an invaluable experience at a homey as well as professional environment which will effectively contribute in my clinical profession ahead”.
“It was a great experience to work at the Neurosurgery Department which helped me learn how to collaborate and solve problems individually and as a team. Working in ICU with the critical patients made my nerves strong to tackle emergencies. Because of the competitive environment of the Department, I learned more and the mentorship of the Department is exceptional and helping me a lot through my career”.
“The experience in Neurosurgery Department taught me how to work professionally. The team of seniors is very cooperative and always ready to help and guide us about minor procedures and management of complicated cases. It is the only Department in Jinnah Hospital serving OPD, emergency and ICU care to patients all the time despite having shortage of doctors so I was lucky to have exposure to all these in my rotation. There is exemplary co-ordination between the doctors and paramedical staff. The head of department is very active and a man of principles known to be ‘The teacher of teachers’”.
The Neurosurgery Department Allama Iqbal Medical College is relatively young but with the dedicated efforts and sincerity of the team it has rapidly blossomed into a leading center for neurosurgical patient care, postgraduate training and research
