I’ve got a student who is planning to be a doctor, and whose dad is a doctor. This kid says his dad has been letting him watch surgery–not from an observation deck but from right there on the floor–for a few years.
I mean, this is possible, I guess, but is it probable? Would a hospital allow this?
This kid also had an interesting claim about both is mom and grandmother having been machine gunners for a now-defunct governent, but that tale actually checked out! That’s why I’m reticent to discount the surgery story off-hand.
Shadowing doctors and observing procedures are common learning experiences for people who aspire to be doctors. If you have a parent who is a doctor that just makes it easier to set up. The hospital may or may not have an official policy on it. A large hospital or teaching hospital probably has a policy. A smaller community hospital may not.
I thought I wanted to go to med school so when I was an undergrad I shadowed a surgeon for a day. I was on the operating floor–no paperwork necessary; no one batted an eye. It was a pretty major teaching hospital.
My dad was a Dr., and I’ve done it. I had to scrub and wear gloves, mask and gown and “stay the hell out of the way”. But this was a small town hospital in the 70s.
I imagine the hospital and personnel might be OK with a “doctor’s kid” observing surgery if he/she was in high school, but maybe not with a 5-year-old.
My daughters were born via emergency C-section. The nurses might let the father in the OR based on their judgement. When my wife was in labor with my oldest daughter, the baby was going into fetal distress over and over and the doctor was getting tired of it. She told me that she was going to call it and a little while later she did and said “That’s it, you are going to be a father in 15 minutes.” My wife went straight to the OR and a nurse came in shortly after with my scrubs. I got dressed and went into the OR. They normally keep fathers out of view of the surgery but I kept peeking in so much that they finally let me see what I wanted. I saw parts of my wife that even she has never seen before but, more importantly, I got the first glimpse of my daughter. The same thing happened for the next one. I had an obvious interest in being there but so do student nurses and others. I don’t think it is much of a problem.
I sat in on several surgeries in the mid-90s. You need to wear the full gear and stay out of the way, and in each case we had to get a signature from the patient saying it was alright. But other than that it was no big deal.