G. Mariah Cawthon, MD
Name
G. Mariah Cawthon, MD
Residency Program
General Surgery
Program Year
PGY-1
Medical School
Meharry Medical College
Home
Huntsville, AL
About
Why did you choose General Surgery?
I loved being in the OR during my surgery rotations as a medical student. Every medical student does one core General Surgery rotation in their third year. I really enjoyed the technical and hands-on aspects – suturing, putting in laparoscopic ports and holding the laparoscopic camera. So, I did four more General Surgery electives in my fourth year of medical school. After all those surgery rotations, I knew surgery was for me. There is no other place in the hospital that I would rather be in than the OR.
What’s your favorite part of the day?
My favorite part of my day is anytime I get to be in the OR.
What are your hobbies?
I have always been pretty active. Outside of work, I love anything outdoors, especially hiking. I also enjoy running, cycling and HIIT workout classes. I just moved to Gainesville, but I have been to Lake Lanier a few times, and it’s so fun being out on the water.
What does a day in the life look like for you?
Depending on the rotation, the day can vary. But pretty much all surgery days start early. We can round (what we call when we check on all our admitted patients in the morning) pretty early because we have to check on them before we go to the OR, and cases start as early as 7:30 am (trauma and acute care cases can be any time because they can be more urgent/emergent and require getting into the OR sooner). Every inpatient we see must have a note written on them for the day. It can be a progress note, OR note or discharge summary. So for some rotations with a lot of patients, that can take up a big part of my day. We also do a lot of coordinating with case management to make sure patients have a safe discharge and all their care needs are met (e.g. home health, wound vac changes, infusions scheduled or home medical equipment). We also spend a lot of time answering pages– from nurses or other medical services. And then getting to operate, which we do more in some rotations than others as an intern. We also have clinic days– this is where we see patients pre- and post-operatively as well as patients that we follow long term (e.g. cancer patients).
Was this what you were expecting for intern year?
This is what I was expecting as an intern! Doing the 5 surgery rotations, gave me a window into what being a surgery intern is like! Our 4th year electives, we are actually treated as a “JI” which means we are doing a “junior” internship. So, it is a lot of practice doing intern responsibilities as a medical student.