Southampton General Hospital Open Day

One of the theaters at the hospital

Earlier I went along the the Southampton General Hospital open day. I wasn't really sure what to expect, as I haven't attended anything like this before but I was definitely not disappointed. A large amount of the hospital was open for you to look around, with many hospital staff and enthusiastic volunteers on hand to give you information.

Having had a look on google maps my dad and I decided we'd catch the train to Southampton Central and walk to the hospital. The distance is about 5km each way, which was perfectly walkable, but we rather underestimated how long it takes to walk the distance. We were running late anyway and arrived at the hospital with around two hours 'til the end of the open day.

First we attended the 'virtual autopsy' which was presented by two members of the pathology team. They spoke about all the reasons behind performing autopsies, which was insightful as I'm ashamed to admit I came into the presentation with a CSI mindset. It had not occurred to me the role an autopsy can have for a grieving family, as it can give explanations and closure when the death may be surrounded by unexplained circumstances. Up until today I had thought of autopsies as very controlled and distanced from the interpersonal aspects of practicing medicine. The virtual autopsy included  the dissection of pigs organs accompanied by photographs of real autopsies and specimens. It was very interesting, and made me want to pick up some hearts from the supermarket on the way home and borrow my dad's scalpel...
The presentation has made me feel that performing post mortems would probably not be my cup of tea, career-wise. That said, other areas of pathology such as genetics and haematology sound intriguing.

We also visited the rather beautiful theaters. They are very modern facilities with floor to ceiling windows on one side of the room. These provide a lot of natural light in the theaters during the day, as well as giving a (fairly) lovely view over the hospital campus. It seemed like an amazing facility to work in, and I have made a mental not to keep an eye on jobs in Southampton should I become a surgeon. There were two surgeries set up, one on the tonsils and one on a slipped disc. This was a bit surreal, as I had my tonsils removed when I was younger, and my mum underwent surgery on a slipped disc around 6 or 7 years ago. However this put me in the perfect position to ask questions to the surgical team, as I have some background knowledge of the procedures and the theater staff and anaesthetists were very friendly and informative.

I only wish we had arrived earlier in the day, as what we saw today was really the tip of the iceberg considering the amount of areas which are opened up and activities which are available. I'll definitely try to make the whole 4 hours next year!