Trauma: My Life as an Emergency Surgeon Book

Acknowledgments xi

1 The Trauma Surgeon: Introduction 1

2 The General Medical Officer: The Early Postgraduate Years 8

3 My First Major Trauma: The Junior Surgical Resident 25

4 Indoctrination, Brainwashing, and Sleep Deprivation: The Training of a Surgeon 37

5 Baptism by Fire: The County Hospital 55

6 The University Experience: The World's Greatest Trauma Surgeon 68

7 A Tragic Ending: Albuquerque 78

8 Pure Hell: Cardiovascular Surgery 87

9 Good Fortune: The Chief Surgical Resident 98

10 The Independent Surgeon: Fort Polk Louisiana 117

11 9/11-The Day That Changed Everything: Transition to Civilian Practice 131

12 Limb Lost, Life Saved: The Mutilated Limb 146

13 Cold-Blooded Killer: A Mother's Undying Love 157

14 Broken Minds and Damaged Bodies: Mental Illness 169

15 The Illegal Alien: Everyone Has an Angle 185

16 Off to War: Deployment to Afghanistan 196

17 A Desolate Wasteland: Afghanistan 209

18 Suicide by Crossbow: Treating the Full Spectrum of the Ages 220

19 Trauma and the Flesh-Eating Bacteria: The Brutal Disfigurement of a Woman's Body 236

20 Parking Lot Murder: A Senseless Killing 251

21 The Sniper's Rifle: The Benevolence of a SWAT Team Member 261

22 The Alcoholic Trauma Patient: One of Many Ways to Ruin One's Life 272

23 Back to the Combat Zone: Deployment to Iraq 284

24 Guns, Knives, and Drugs: Urban Violence 301

25 Poor Roger: A Painful, Bitter Ending 311

26 The Final Chapter: It Has Been a Privilege 328