The room is ice cold, almost to the point where one can see their breath form in clouds as they talk. Every hair on the back of one’s neck stands up and chills are sent down their spine. The room is sterilized and the patient lies unconscious as the anesthesia takes over their entire body.

Shiny silver tools are polished and are neatly presented on a side table next to where the patient lies. The room had a pungent metallic smell, similar to that of blood. It is quiet except for the delicate beeping sound of the heart-rate monitor, as several medical professionals are working calmly to ensure that they perform the procedure correctly.

Dressed in mint-green scrubs and surgical masks, along with white latex gloves and what looks like mini trash-bags covering their feet, each surgeon works tediously for the next four hours to restore the valves of the patient’s collapsing heart.

Hannah Wiles, a sophomore Biology and Health and Risk Communication major, had the opportunity to witness a bypass open-heart surgery and a bilateral mastectomy for her first-ever clinical experience.

Wiles had five previous knee surgeries growing up, so that ultimately both inspired and encouraged her to pursue her passion for developing a career in the medical field.

Her experience was made possible through connections with Theodore Avtgis, chair and professor of the Department of Communication Studies, who introduced her to Dr. Phillip Polack.

Dr. Polack is the co-director of the Brain Tumor Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and the A. Leland Albright Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

The surgeries themselves took place in Wheeling Hospital in Wheeling, WV. Both patients for each surgery were females; for the bilateral mastectomy, the patient was in her late 40’s, while the patient for the open-heart surgery was in her late 60’s.

When Wiles first arrived at Wheeling Hospital, she had the opportunity to view the board of surgeries taking place for the day and she got to pick which surgery she found most intriguing and wanted to be a part of.

Then, she met with Dr. Polack’s nurse who sent her to the operating room, where she changed into scrubs to prepare for the operation.

Initially, before any of the surgeries began, doctors instructed Wiles that if she felt dizzy at any point and time during the surgery, to “sit down and not to fall on the patient.” Additionally, in order to prepare for both surgeries, Wiles had to test for Tuberculosis to ensure that the disease was not spread to anyone in the operating room.

Although Wiles did not stay for the duration of the bypass open-heart surgery, she described what her experience was like while in the operating room.

“For the open-heart surgery, when I first went in, the physician assistants had to harvest the vein from the leg first. That took about an hour and a half,” said Wiles. “Then, the heart surgeon came in and they cracked the chest and the ribs. I was probably in there for an [additional] three hours of him working on the heart and sewing things. They even stopped the heart during surgery, which was pretty cool.”

Additionally, Wiles spent approximately three hours watching the bilateral mastectomy take place. She noted how important it was that in order for her to be taken seriously as an aspiring doctor, she was going to need as much experience as possible within the medical field.

“I believe that medicine is more than just science. I feel like the health and risk communication [aspect] adds more of a dimension to that,” said Wiles. “Not only is it going to look better when I apply for [medical] school, but this is the type of thing where you can be a really great doctor, but if you cannot effectively communicate with your patients, it does not matter. They are not going to want to come back to you.”

Wiles reflected on what brought her to this point of being able to witness both surgeries.

“Make connections; for a while, I was intimidated [to ask] for contact information,” said Wiles. “Now [that] I have reached out to Dr. A, this [experience] was set up within a week. I have also reached out to my knee surgeon before and followed him around for the day.”

Wiles said that she would definitely consider seeing both of these types of surgeries again in the future. She is eager to continue shadowing professionals in the medical field to gain more exposure.

After Wiles graduates from AU, she plans on attending medical school for the next few years. Once that is completed, she dreams of working at Akron Children’s Hospital and pursing sports medicine orthopedics to eventually become a doctor.