Outside Reading 2

Atul Gawande is the narrator of the novel and what he is doing is telling us about how he goes through residency to become a surgeon and practicing many times to be able get to that level. He is told by a former doctor during surgery, "you'll get it, it just takes practice." And to me, that could easily just be a life goal. Everything you want to get better at or succeed in takes practice. Just like the saying "practice makes perfect". Being in the medical field is not an easy thing to accomplish/do and it takes many years, hours and plenty of time to get to a highly ranked position. Atul has trouble with one surgery in particular. Its where he sticks a long, fat needle under the clavical of the patient and to a vein to get blood. As he watched Doctor S. in surgery (this is the way they are taught) he gets to try it himself. She of course comes in to make sure he is doing everything right, and Atul had already forgotten some steps before even starting. Atul feels horrible and that he will never be able to do it... althought it is not an easy surgery. He could not get over the fact that he was jabbing a needle so deeply and blindly into someone's chest.