Why We Depend on One Another in Wound Care

July means different things to different people for different reasons. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the month of July represented the first real month of summer. It signaled the end of the school year, and it was time to have fun. After college graduation, the first day of July for medical students correlates with the first day of medical school classes, and for senior medical students, the beginning of most medical residency programs. This first day of summer can be wrought with both excitement and fear.

Prior to starting medical school, I spent the month of June shadowing an emergency room physician at the Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine at the Hershey Medical Center. In my naïveté, I did not know what an M-80 was, not to mention the damage that it could impart. Pardon the pun, but needless to say, I was blown away by the patient who had lost multiple fingers and sustained third degree burns when the flash-powdered rocket had exploded in his dominant hand. Fireworks!

Fast forward to more than a dozen years later as I arrived in Cleveland, Ohio. A feisty and “spirited” young man was hanging out at the “flats” to celebrate the fourth of July. As the story was told, he became involved in a tussle wherein his dominant hand met a glass bottle. To his chagrin, the bottle won, leaving him with completely severed superficial and deep flexor tendons of all four digits of his dominant hand, and rendering him my first patient as an orthopedic hand fellow at the Cleveland Clinic. After many hours in the operating room, the reconstructive repairs were completed, and then the incredibly skilled Cleveland Clinic hand therapists went to work! The teamwork of the occupational and physical therapists was essential for the successful outcome for that patient.

Yes, in America, the fourth of July is marked by parades, outdoor events, and loud pyrotechnical displays to celebrate Independence Day. According to Webster’s dictionary, “independence” is defined as “not subject to control by others … not requiring or relying on something else.” Is this true in medicine? I think not.

The message is teamwork. Regardless of your role in the management of a patient, do not be haughty and think that you can act alone. In the words of poet John Donne, “no man is an island.” Wound care is collaborative, and we do need each other.

So, let us celebrate one another, and be grateful for being not so independent. Until next time …

Monique Abner, MD, CWSP, is affiliated with Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine, part of Tower Health Medical Group, in Wyomissing, PA. Dr. Abner's professional affiliations include the American Board of Wound Management, the American Society of Plastic Surgery, Diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgeons, member of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, and member of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care.