Returning to Choibalsan to work with this team again was
truly a joy and a privilege. It was encouraging to see how much the team had
learned – in technical skill and in surgical judgment. It was a pleasure to
return to a somewhat familiar environment in such a far away land. It was a
privilege to work with our friends and colleagues from our last visit.
I took a special pleasure in learning that one silly little
thing I had done last time I was in Choibalsan, has become routine here in the
operating room. The first time we were teaching here, I used to clap and cheer
whenever the gallbladder was finally freed from the gallbladder fossa. I think
surgery is fun and I think finding those moments of small victory are worth
celebrating. Okay, it’s silly, but somehow, it has stuck. The first day of our
trip this year, the operating team cheered raucously after the first
gallbladder was released from the gallbladder fossa – and I laughed in shock.
They then informed me that they do that for every cholecystectomy … every one.
If the legacy I have left in Choibalsan is the ability to
celebrate the small victories – well I am more than fine with that. Cheers to
my friends in Mongolia who do their job well and do their job with joy.
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