Jordan Teitelbaum, D.O. is an Otolaryngologist / Head & Neck Surgeon with subspecialty training in Rhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery. His poem “The Donna Summer Operation,” appears in the Fall issue of the Intima.

Taking care of people in the Operating Room is more than ‘just a job’ for both surgeons and anesthesiologists.

Before going into ENT, I completed clinical rotations in Anesthesiology, and I remember receiving chuckles when I made the work-appropriate occupational-based joke that I would “rather be on the other side of the drapes.” What I failed to realize at the time was that those who work in Anesthesiology – whether as attendings, GME trainees, CRNA’s, or aides and techs – are in the O.R. more days a week than I am. Even as a sinus surgeon, I spend at least half my time in the office seeing patient before or after their procedures – and I spend even more time seeing people who I would never (in my right mind) operate on.

In her astute poem, “Trendelenburg,” student-doctor Uthayakumar illuminates the brief yet profound bond that a patient makes with their anesthesia provider. In verse that is exquisitely lovely and evocative, she points out the absurdity of the vulnerability one must capitulate for this everyday event of someone slipping under, something that hastily grows mundane for us to witness. We purposefully give drugs that cause amnesia, inducing a blackout much quicker than liquor and much more effectively, too.

I have always said that the only thing more bizarre than someone going into and coming out of an anesthetic is live birth. And yet, we providers must walk the walk to speedily steel ourselves against these oddities that others marvel at on platforms like YouTube. For us, these actions and reactions are things we spend a decade learning how to do well.

In my poem, “The Donna Summer Operation,” I spit rhymes describing an operative cancer execution that our team performed. Certainly, this patient was dear to us, and we cared greatly about her outcomes, survival, and quality of life postoperatively. Nonetheless, that day in my life started with coffee, phone calls, and getting into my work day just like anyone in any profession. In the OR, we strived to achieve our goals, made some jokes, and chatted. But a quick zooming-out for the outsider echoes the mesmerizing sentiments in student-doctor Uthayakumar’s words describing an unremarkable experience for us that for patients is existential and extraordinary even if we block their memories of it. What’s more is how this ‘cosmic’ yet common occurrence can often be life-changing for both patient and provider.

Jordan Teitelbaum, D.O. is an Otolaryngologist / Head & Neck Surgeon with subspecialty training in Rhinology and Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery. He was born and raised inChicago and majored in English at the University of Michigan prior to completing medical school in Harlem, NYC, ENT residency at Ohio University, and fellowship at Duke University. He is grateful for the opportunity to express his medical and surgical experiencest hrough writing. He also truly appreciates the opportunity to interact with others’ work and thus maintain a persistent connection to his roots