Road to traumatologist

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I am a premed seeking the advice from the elders about how to go into traumatology. Do you complete a residency in general surgery and then a fellowship in trauma surgery or something? And how competitive is it?


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Med School --> Gen Surg --> Trauma/CritCare Fellowship (so 4 years MS + 5-7 years of GS + another 1-2 years of Trauma/CC).

GS is about as competitive as Internal Medicine. Trauma/CC is one of the less competitive fellowships of GS (the most competitive are typically Vascular, Plastics, Colorectal).

Thanks!


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Originally Posted by ArcGurren

Med School --> Gen Surg --> Trauma/CritCare Fellowship (so 4 years MS + 5-7 years of GS + another 1-2 years of Trauma/CC).

GS is about as competitive as Internal Medicine. Trauma/CC is one of the less competitive fellowships of GS (the most competitive are typically Vascular, Plastics, Colorectal).

Eh, everything is correct until the last statement which is just completely wrong. The most competitive GS fellowships are Peds and Surg Onc, by FAR.

Originally Posted by mimelim

Eh, everything is correct until the last statement which is just completely wrong. The most competitive GS fellowships are Peds and Surg Onc, by FAR.

Sorry, forgot to mention Peds. I always thought Vascular was one of the most competitive (definitely seems the most desirable); but I'm also not going into GS so I don't know the details. And Colorectal < Surg onc? Interesting

Originally Posted by ArcGurren

Sorry, forgot to mention Peds. I always thought Vascular was one of the most competitive (definitely seems the most desirable); but I'm also not going into GS so I don't know the details. And Colorectal < Surg onc? Interesting

The vascular fellowship is like the least competitive fellowship outside of trauma... The residencies on the other hand...

mime is right about Surg Onc and peds being the most competitive.

Vascular is not the most desirable nor highly competitive fellowship. The patient population is a non-compliant, medically complex, high M&M specialty. Not to mention the smell of gangrene.

Originally Posted by Smurfette

mime is right about Surg Onc and peds being the most competitive.

Vascular is not the most desirable nor highly competitive fellowship. The patient population is a non-compliant, medically complex, high M&M specialty. Not to mention the smell of gangrene.

I see. About half of the GS residents I've met have wanted to go into either that or Plastics; hence my misconception

Originally Posted by Smurfette

Not to mention the smell of gangrene.

Smells like...victory.

You can also do EM and focus on trauma. EM is significantly less competitive and less demanding than GS

Originally Posted by neusu

You can also do EM and focus on trauma. EM is significantly less competitive and less demanding than GS

Trauma is a surgical problem. EM participates in the ABCDEs, but the they don't have the skills (or the desire) to actually fix it.

Originally Posted by Raryn

Trauma is a surgical problem. EM participates in the ABCDEs, but the they don't have the skills (or the desire) to actually fix it.

What if that's what they want? To be able to put in chest tubes and do the resucitation? I found that a lot more interesting and exciting than spending hours running the bowel during an ex lap over and over again.

Originally Posted by ArcGurren

What if that's what they want? To be able to put in chest tubes and do the resucitation? I found that a lot more interesting and exciting than spending hours running the bowel during an ex lap over and over again.

You did something wrong if somehow you found the surgical aspects of Trauma surgery to be repetitive. Also, you can train a monkey to do the ABCDEs, see ATLS training.

Originally Posted by mimelim

You did something wrong if somehow you found the surgical aspects of Trauma surgery to be repetitive. Also, you can train a monkey to do the ABCDEs, see ATLS training.

Not really; after my 4th or 5th ex-lap I was bored to tears. I'm not entirely sure why I'm arguing with a surgeon on this point because we've clearly got separate biases

Originally Posted by mimelim

Eh, everything is correct until the last statement which is just completely wrong. The most competitive GS fellowships are Peds and Surg Onc, by FAR.

Moreso than plastics?

How did we get 15 posts into this thread without a joke about "traumatologist"?

Originally Posted by Slack3r

Moreso than plastics?

No, the top 3 are PRS, Peds and Surg Onc. The latter two have much much fewer applicants but also fewer training spots.

Originally Posted by colbgw02

How did we get 15 posts into this thread without a joke about "traumatologist"?

traumatologist
Web definitions
(traumatology) the branch of medicine that deals with the surgical repair of injuries and wounds arising from accidents.
wordnetweb.princeton.edu


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Originally Posted by ArcGurren

What if that's what they want? To be able to put in chest tubes and do the resucitation? I found that a lot more interesting and exciting than spending hours running the bowel during an ex lap over and over again.

Eh, chest tubes are boring too after youv'e put in your 5th one. You don't go into EM if you want trauma. If you do, you're probably gonna be happy in the field. Our entire role in trauma is to either d/c them or get them to the surgeon. And there's really no specializing in it, although you can always work at a gun and knife shop if you want to increase your trauma load. Trauma in Emergency medicine is very very algorithmic.

Originally Posted by ArcGurren

Not really; after my 4th or 5th ex-lap I was bored to tears. I'm not entirely sure why I'm arguing with a surgeon on this point because we've clearly got separate biases

Maybe that's because you weren't the one doing any of those ex laps. Watching and doing are two very different things. Even as a surgical resident I get "bored to tears" watching others operate.

Originally Posted by Rendar5

Eh, chest tubes are boring too after youv'e put in your 5th one. You don't go into EM if you want trauma. If you do, you're probably gonna be happy in the field. Our entire role in trauma is to either d/c them or get them to the surgeon. And there's really no specializing in it, although you can always work at a gun and knife shop if you want to increase your trauma load. Trauma in Emergency medicine is very very algorithmic.

Then how come there was always so much drama on ER? Are you saying my perception of medicine has been skewed by television? I don't know what to believe anymore.

Originally Posted by lazymed

Maybe that's because you weren't the one doing any of those ex laps. Watching and doing are two very different things. Even as a surgical resident I get "bored to tears" watching others operate.

Not really. The thrill of closing an open incision for an hour after spending maybe 10 minutes doing the actual operating wore off for me pretty quick. I remember going into a radical nephrectomy where the actual nephrectomy part took maybe 40 minutes of getting in, ligating, cutting... and 1.5 hours closing off all the fascial layers. No thanks.

Originally Posted by ArcGurren

Not really. The thrill of closing an open incision for an hour after spending maybe 10 minutes doing the actual operating wore off for me pretty quick. I remember going into a radical nephrectomy where the actual nephrectomy part took maybe 40 minutes of getting in, ligating, cutting... and 1.5 hours closing off all the fascial layers. No thanks.

You've just described the entire field of neurosurgery.

Originally Posted by CuttingCorneas

You've just described the entire field of neurosurgery.

lol I take it ophthalmology is more pleasant than that