by Katie Dominguez ‘20 (Immaculata House)

Observing a surgery is usually reserved for top-notch doctors of the medical field, however, Trinity High School sophomores and juniors had the rare opportunity to observe a laparoscopic hysterectomy (the removal of the uterus), and appendectomy (the removal of the appendix), on March 28 at the Whitaker Center. The Penn State Hershey Medical Center sponsors “Surgery Live” each year to stimulate students’ interests in medicine while also exposing them to various careers in the healthcare field.

The students were seated in a big auditorium at the Whitaker Center for Science, where a large screen displayed in real time what was happening in an operating room at the medical center. Before the procedure began, a medical assistant explained the anatomy of the body where the procedure was going to take place, as well as pointed out any risk factors involved in the surgery. The students were also given background information about the patient and her condition, and they were introduced to the different medical jobs required in the operating room.

During the procedure, the students were able to ask the surgeon questions about the operation or the medical field in general, and surgical instruments that were used in the surgery, such as a laparoscope, were passed around. The surgeon made sure to show other organs surrounding the uterus, like the ovaries and bladder, as most students hadn’t seen the inside of a body before. After the hysterectomy, which proceeded smoothly, the surgeon decided to remove the appendix as a precaution to remove the risk of future appendicitis or endometriosis. The patient was then sent on her way to recovery, and Trinity students were left pondering their future medical careers.