With all the career focused activity that almost takes over during training, many of my hobbies fell by the wayside but it’s never to late to have a go at something new. True to my Orthopaedic roots I figured why the hell not live up to the stereotype of being a carpenter because Orthopaedics is pretty much Carpentry, isn’t it?
Thankfully, a quick scour of the internet showed that there are those who genuinely have an interest in the kind of hobbies that draw on our experience of mechanics, material science and engineering. The story of Dr Paul Anderson of Wisconsin is particularly interesting and it is very hard not to agree with his following statement:
We have people come in who have never used a tool in their life. And we expect them to be able to put a complex fracture back together when they have never screwed two boards together. I bring residents here and teach them woodworking as it is good for their skill as surgeons. If they need to learn how to drill holes that are perpendicular to bone, they can practice on wood. They can learn how to join things. The principals for joining bones are the same as in wood working.
https://ryortho.com/2011/03/the-carpenter-surgeon-literally/
The above is not to dissimilar to an influential trainer I had who told me in my junior years that if I could use a drill at home and put up shelves then i’d be well set for orthopaedics…I thought he was joking.
This is making me wonder if I should get my trainees to come over and help with some DIY stuff. I’ve got plenty to do and could utilise an assistant.
With that said I should probably start doing some DIY otherwise I will be reminded every six month…..