# Doctor's Kid Watching Doctor Perform Surgeries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2007, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708 "2007-07-06T06:40:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/1 "2007-07-06T06:40:41Z")
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. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/2 "2007-07-06T06:55:20Z")
Hell, some kids do the surgeries: > [@](#): > > The 15-year-old son of two doctors performed a filmed Caesarean section birth under his parents’ watch in southern India in an apparent bid to gain a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest surgeon. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19350561/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19350561/) That was in India, which I imagine is a bit laxer about these sort of things. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/3 "2007-07-06T07:49:54Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/4 "2007-07-06T08:26:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/5 "2007-07-06T09:30:56Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/6 "2007-07-06T12:32:25Z")
Okay, thanks everyone. I’m suprised hospitals would let non-staff into the theater, (that’s what it’s called, isn’t it?) but there it is. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/7 "2007-07-06T13:07:30Z")
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. “Oooh, what’s that tube for?” (yank) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/8 "2007-07-06T13:17:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/9 "2007-07-06T13:28:21Z")
[QUOTE=treis] That was in India, which I imagine is a bit laxer about these sort of things. [/QUOTE] Maybe not. This excerpt is from the story you linked: > [@](#): > > …the boy’s father could be stripped of his licenses and may face criminal charges, officials said Thursday. > > “We were shocked to see the recording,” Prasad told The Associated Press, adding that the IMA told Murugesan that his act was an ethical and legal violation. > > Murugesan, who could possibly be prevented from practicing and face criminal charges for allowing his son to perform the operation, expressed no regret and accused the Manaparai medical association of being “jealous” of his son’s achievements, Prasad added. > > “We’ll get the report and then we’ll see whether there are any violations … prima facie it looks like there is a big violation,” he said. > > “We will definitely take action against the concerned medical officers.” ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/10 "2007-07-07T03:25:32Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-kid-watching-doctor-perform-surgeries/410708/11 "2007-07-07T04:12:51Z")
The patient generally has to approve it. If this is the case, the hospital probably wouldn’t care.