A year that proved surgical residents are not only masters of wielding scalpels in sterile environments but also capable of training countless aspiring medical professionals using pork knuckles and hundreds of meters of suturing material. In our annual review, we take a humorous look at the suturing course statistics that kept us on our toes in 2024. 😉
Course Mania and Participant Flood
We managed to attract a total of 190 surgery enthusiasts to our courses. With 131 participants in the basic course, our training rooms occasionally felt like the packed belly of a subway during rush hour—just with more sutures and fewer handrails. Meanwhile, the 59 participants of the minor surgery course ensured that even the smallest abscess was evacuated and every varicose vein bleed could be stopped.
Heroes of Surgical Art
• 167 students stormed the courses, armed with determination and an impressive ability to close every wound on a pork knuckle.
• 21 resident doctors proved that there’s always something new to learn, especially when it comes to perfect suturing or abscess incision on a pork knuckle.
• Our 2 assistant doctors demonstrated stoic patience, even when their sutures decided to tie knots on their own.
A Material Battle of a Special Kind
This year, we used a whopping 603.9 meters of suturing material. If we had laid all those threads end to end, we could have wrapped the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel almost twice—or at least wrapped a very enthusiastic little dachshund many, many times. Without our amazing partner Medtronic, we wouldn’t have gotten even halfway there.
The 137 kg of pork knuckles, exclusively used as practice material, posed new challenges for our master butcher and ensured that no training room was left empty! A huge thank you goes out to our valuable partner, Fleischerei Derntl in Leonding.
Abscesses, Atheromas, and Lubricant
We treated 59 abscesses and atheromas, with 18 tubes of Vaseline standing out as indispensable filling material for abscesses. These tubes not only added a smooth touch of medical success to every treatment but also served as a shining example of how essential slick support is in the world of minor cuts.
Conclusion
Overall, it was a year full of learning, laughter, and ligating lessons. We look forward to next year with even more meters of thread, more pork knuckles, and, of course, more of YOU—our highly valued participants.
Stay sharp, and we’ll see you at the next cut! ✂️