Hello and welcome to our introduction to assisting. We just wanted to take a minute to deliver a few valuable words regarding assisting a surgeon during an operation.  ​ Many operations are a marathon, not a sprint. As a student you are more likely to experience elective or scheduled operations that emergencies and these operations can last for many hours at a time without a break. It is important to find a comfortable position early on in the operation as you may be there for quite some time. Remember to focus on your posture to avoid a muscular injury and consider the clothes and shoes you are wearing when preparing for a day in theatre. A comfortable assistant can spend more time learning and less time worrying about their sore back. ​ It can be difficult to know how much to get involved and how proactive you should be in your assistance. Some students are very cautious and will refuse to think for themselves, whereas some students take a very proactive approach early on in their training. Early on in your career, it is far more appropriate to be cautious. Being proactive without the necessary experience will lead to error. We recommend that early on in your operative career, you clear every action by the responsible surgeon. You will soon develop an understanding of what the surgeon expects from you and you should adapt in response, but being overly confident in the operating room can easily be seen as reckless, dangerous and will earn no brownie points. As you gain more experience you will begin to understand the art of assisting and be able to read the surgeon, however we strongly advise against jumping the gun. Remember that you should always work within your competency.