Today I had the opportunity to shadow Dr. Timothy Harris. Dr. Harris is a trauma surgeon who specializes in total joint replacements, specifically knees and hips. When he’s not doing this, he also often performs operations on most any bone fractures.
While shadowing Dr. Harris, I saw a plethora of patients, most with hip and knee injuries. While most patients that saw Dr. Chappell on Tuesday were initial meeting, the multitude of patients today with Dr. Harris were patients meeting either pre or post operation. Although a few were there for initial meetings, most had already had previous encounters with Dr. Harris.
Although because of Wake Orthopedics policy I am unable to go into the OR until I am 18, today I was able to watch Dr. Harris inject cortisone shots into 3 different patients. My favorite injection was a woman who was regularly scheduled for a second cortisone shot since her initial wore off, and her husband, in the same room, at the same time, in both of his knees. I couldn’t help but chuckle at how cute the older couple was, and how well joyfully they both took the shots despite the immense pain. 