Abigail Link: St. Croix Plastic Surgery Week One

My name is Abigail Link and I am one of the five 2018 interns from Ouray High School. This past week starting on the 8th of July I begun the journey of my internship. My internship is in the St. Croix, U.S Virgin Islands shadowing Dr. Gregory Moorman. Dr. Moorman is a certified plastic surgeon and is the exclusive plastic surgeon in St. Croix. Alexa Yanosky, my partner in crime for this internship from Montrose, Colorado, and I headed out to St. Croix for day one this week. About seventeen hours and 15 minutes of travel later and we plopped down right in the heart of St. Croix. There we went to the tiny airport and met up with Dr. Moorman who drove on the left side to take us home. It was very dark so when coming home we saw very little of the island. There is still destruction from the hurricane but the island is rebuilding really well. I was honestly just trying not to freak out about the fact that we were driving on the wrong side of the road! Upon arriving home, we had a homemade meal from the youngest Moorman son, Stefán, and felt right at home. We met Andreas, the oldest Moorman son, and a few of his friends as well. After a long day, Alexa and I went to bed pretty early to be up at 6:30 for another day.

Day two we got caught in a small tropical storm and the power and Wifi went out in the early morning. This caused a delay so we ended up not going to the hospital and stayed at our host home. We got to see the Moorman house in daylight and Alexa and I both took long naps. Later in the day, we traveled to Dr. Moorman’s office in Gallow’s Bay. There, we observed one patient who had multiple abscess on his thumb to which Dr. Moorman drained and cleaned the wounds. 

Day three was not the best day for me. I got some sort of flu and was sick for the whole day. Luckily it was only a 24 hour illness and I was up and ready when day three rolled around!

Day four Alexa, Andreas, I went to Plesson Surgical Center to observe a breast reduction. The breast reduction went really well. It was interesting seeing the removal process and the lifting of the chest to get symmetry in the chest. We also observed their set up system for the operating room and the team behind the surgeon. It was very similar to how it is shown in the movies and extremely organized. Patient care is always the number one priority. I loved seeing how these people do their job purely out of love for their work.

Day five we were back in the office and saw a little over seventeen people. It was cosmetic day so it involved Botox and filling of rhytids. The three of us also got to do more paperwork for the office. They have an online program called Practice Fusion that organizes patient schedules and medical information. We learned from Dr. Moorman about Medicaid in comparison to Medicare and billing information.  

Day six we went back to the Plesson Surgical Center to observe a hernia removal and a face lift. The hernia removal was a simple and quick operation that only took one hour to complete. Dr. Moorman took the hernia out and put a piece of mesh in the place of where the intestine went through. This is a preventive measure to insure that the hernia would not migrate back. The face lift is a very long procedure and we only stayed for the first part. We got to observe liposuction in the neck and face for the first time. This procedure was so long and complicated we could not stay the whole. There are a lot of nerves in the face that Dr. Moorman had to be careful not to disturb for it could cause permanent damage.

Day seven we got to sleep in since it was a Saturday! Stephán, Alexa, Dr. Moorman, and I all went to the beach and soaked up the sun. We also went in the water and it was nice and warm. It was a chill day and a great day to spend all together. I am super excited for this next week and the fun things we will get to explore!