Words of Wisdom, please :)

71263 · Dec 26, 2005

Hey all. Im sure youve seen plenty of threads like this, and are probably sick of answering by now. But if you MDs could humor this clueless M1 with your experiences, it would be much appreciated. 😳

Since I wanted to be a doctor, surgery has been my top choice, simply because it has interested me the most. This is where you get to see the body for what it is, and experience living human anatomy hands on. At least that is my reasoning so far.

While I want to do it, I have heard many stories about the surgery rotation, and will not truly know what I am getting into until my M3 year. The hours are certainly a turnoff.

While I am pondering all this, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about surgery, ie what its all about, what your lifestyle is like, why you wanted to do it, and what not, and what I can expect if I choose this path. Also, how competitive is the general surgery residency compared to the rest? (My grades arent exactly stellar).

Pilot Doc · Dec 26, 2005

prazmatic said:
will not truly know what I am getting into until my M3 year.

Well, you'll have some idea what you're getting into as a third year, but you still have to make a fairly blind leap when picking a specialty.

For now, you need to do two things
1) prepare yourself to do well on Step I - nothing else you do the first two years has much effect on your residency choices. (Assuming you don't fail classes, acquire a felony conviction, etc.)
2) enjoy life!

Von Hohenheim · Dec 26, 2005

You could observe a few operations and get to know some of the surgery residents at your school. You might also want to do some research in a surgical field. You should be able to get a cush chart study. There's one thing you might consider that I would have done as a junior, if I knew of it. A resident I worked with last year told me that he spent his summer between 1st and 2nd year at a university (Baylor maybe?) with a bunch of other students interested in surgery. It was a planned summer intro. course. They got to scrub in and assist in the or and also attended lots of lectures on the history and basics of surgery. Sounded pretty good. I'd have done it if I knew about it.

Unfortunately, I don't know any more details about it, but there are things like that out there so if you ask around you'll find out about them. 🙂

funkless · Dec 26, 2005

Words of wisdom:

1. Always wear a seatbelt
2. Watchout wear the huskies go and never eat the yellow snow
3. Never put your penis or your signature anywhere it doesn't belong
4. When in doubt, vote Democrat.

You're welcome.

TomC727 · Dec 27, 2005

funkless said:
Words of wisdom:

1. Always wear a seatbelt
2. Watchout wear the huskies go and ever eat the yellow snow
3. Never put your penis or your signature anywhere it doesn't belong
4. When in doubt, vote Democrat.

You're welcome.

You mean vote republican, right 😉

71263 · Dec 27, 2005

Thanks for the advice guys! Did anyone mention how competitive the gen. surg residency is? From what I hear, its fairly competitive, but not up there with derm and anestesiology. And yeah, Ive heard the same thing about Step 1 boards vs grades, activities, and what not. Ill definitely be studying my @ss off for those.

Oh, and btw, I prefer choice 3: Vote Libertarian!

Pilot Doc · Dec 27, 2005

prazmatic said:
Thanks for the advice guys! Did anyone mention how competitive the gen. surg residency is? From what I hear, its fairly competitive, but not up there with derm and anestesiology. And yeah, Ive heard the same thing about Step 1 boards vs grades, activities, and what not. Ill definitely be studying my @ss off for those.

Oh, and btw, I prefer choice 3: Vote Libertarian!

Your competitiveness assessment is generally correct, although derm is vastly more competitive than anesthesia. It will likely be different in two years though.

Von Hohenheim · Dec 27, 2005

prazmatic said:
Thanks for the advice guys! Did anyone mention how competitive the gen. surg residency is? From what I hear, its fairly competitive, but not up there with derm and anestesiology. And yeah, Ive heard the same thing about Step 1 boards vs grades, activities, and what not. Ill definitely be studying my @ss off for those.

Oh, and btw, I prefer choice 3: Vote Libertarian!

Anestesiology is competitive??? 😕

71263 · Dec 27, 2005

Von Hohenheim said:
Anestesiology is competitive??? 😕

Thats what I heard anyways. Then again, Im not too sure about this whole thing, which is why I need you guys to educate me! 😉

toxic-megacolon · Dec 27, 2005

Von Hohenheim said:
Anestesiology is competitive??? 😕

No way. Tons of FMGs and Scrambles in Anesthesiology...

CameronFrye · Dec 27, 2005

Von Hohenheim said:
Anestesiology is competitive??? 😕

Anesthesia has been skyrocketing in popularity, but it's still not super-competitive b/c there are a ton of spots. That being said, the top programs are getting to be very competitive.

71263 · Dec 28, 2005

CameronFrye said:
Anesthesia has been skyrocketing in popularity, but it's still not super-competitive b/c there are a ton of spots. That being said, the top programs are getting to be very competitive.

What would you say are the more competitive residencies, and where would surgery rank among them?

footcramp · Dec 28, 2005

derm
plastics
ortho
ent
neurosurg
rad onc
urology
radiology
ophthy
emergency
path
gen surg
anesthesia
medicine
ob/gyn
pmr
neuro
psych
peds
family

toxic-megacolon · Dec 28, 2005

footcramp said:
derm
plastics
ortho
ent
neurosurg
rad onc
urology
radiology
ophthy
emergency
path
gen surg
anesthesia
medicine
ob/gyn
pmr
neuro
psych
peds
family

That's pretty fair, though I'd probably move path down a little bit (or a lot), and ob and peds are probalby more "competitive" than internal med

toxic-megacolon · Dec 28, 2005

It doesn't really make sense to rank each specialty in competitiveness, like who's to say what's less competitive, FP or Psych? Either program will take you if you have a pulse. It is helpful to put programs in groups though...

Ultra competitive
Derm
Plastics
Ortho
ENT
Ophtho
Rads
Rad Onc
Urology

Very competitive
ER
Gen Surg
Neurosurg

Somewhat competitive
OBGYN
Physical Medicine
Anesthesia
Med-Peds

Not competitive
Internal Med
Family Med
Psych
Neuro
Pathology
Peds

All that said, the top Internal Medicine programs (Hopkins, WashU, UCSF) can be up there in competitiveness with some of the surgical subs.

Words of Wisdom, please :)

71263

Pilot Doc

SDN Angel

Von Hohenheim

pioneer

funkless

Apatheist, Anestheologist

TomC727

Member

71263

Pilot Doc

SDN Angel

Von Hohenheim

pioneer

71263

toxic-megacolon

Toxic Member

CameronFrye

Senior Member

71263

footcramp

Senior Member

toxic-megacolon

Toxic Member

toxic-megacolon

Toxic Member

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