Any point gaining familiarity to surgical procedures at this stage?

[GalenAgas]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm a 2nd year highly interested in surgery/subspecialty and have been shadowing. I have seen 2 cases in the OR. Is there any point to learning, watching videos, or reading about the surgical procedures at this stage? Having paged through surgical recall I see that the emphasis is on what you do outside the OR. I don't know how 3rd year works but if it won't help me make an impression then I think I will spend my time doing other things.

 

[CuttingCorneas]

You might get more responses in the Surgery and Surgical Subspecialties forum.

Edit: See below.

 

[SirGecko]

The big thing is to read on the specific cases you will be doing. (particularly reviewing the relevant anatomy and the indications for the procedure) This isn't really something you can do a year in advance. (so to answer your question watching videos of procedures is not what you should be doing)

What you should do as a second year is focus on your second year curriculum. (path etc) With any free time you should be either studying for step 1 probably starting in January or getting involved in some research if you can.

Step one should be the priority for you though starting in at least the next two months.

 

[Winged Scapula]

You might get more responses in the Surgery and Surgical Subspecialties forum.

No he/she won't because this thread will be moved back here. The specialty forums are for residents and former residents to discuss topics of interest to them. This is a medical student topic, and as such, belongs here.

To the OP: I think it a significant waste of your time at this stage of the game to learn any more about surgical procedures than indications, common complications, and peri-operative management - in other words, what Surgical Recall focuses on. While its fun to read about details of surgery, that's not what gets you Honors in your Clinical Rotations and into residency, which is your goal right now.

If you are interested in a surgical subspecialty, which can be competitive, consider research, making connections as important factors in residency selection (in addition to the obvious Step 1 scores).

 

[Cookie Queen]

The big thing is to read on the specific cases you will be doing. (particularly reviewing the relevant anatomy and the indications for the procedure) This isn't really something you can do a year in advance. (so to answer your question watching videos of procedures is not what you should be doing)

What you should do as a second year is focus on your second year curriculum. (path etc) With any free time you should be either studying for step 1 probably starting in January or getting involved in some research if you can.

Step one should be the priority for you though starting in at least the next two months.

Yes, I totally agree. I doesn't matter if you know the steps for a case if you're not excelling in your second year classes. Also, I would highly recommend enjoying your free time now as a second year and forget about memorizing procedures.

 

[CuttingCorneas]

No he/she won't because this thread will be moved back here. The specialty forums are for residents and former residents to discuss topics of interest to them. This is a medical student topic, and as such, belongs here.

My b. I don't post there, I just know it exists.

 

[Winged Scapula]

My b. I don't post there, I just know it exists.

No worries...common misconception.

Residents and attendings who are inclined to answer medical student and pre-med questions actually go looking for them in these forums, negating the need to post inappropriately in the wrong forum.

 

[hrandani]

Practicing knots. I mean. Stitching. Probably at least a few good youtube channels for learning that.

Also, saying sontometer as nasally as possible would be a good start.

 

[ArcGurren]

OP: complete waste of your time to try and learn surgical procedures for a few reasons

- you're never going to do more than stitch/bovie something as a third year in the OR.
- even if you do decide to go into surgery - a good surgeon is one who knows good medicine. focus on learning that first and then the "fun stuff" (if you're into this sort of thing) comes later.

if you like surgery, go to the OR and have fun and all that through shadowing and as a third year go to the OR as much as you'd like at that point.

 

[45408]

No, don't bother. It's much more important to understand the disease process than the steps of a procedure.

 

[yuiness]

Details of the procedures themselves will be completely irrelevant during 3rd year, but, in addition to indications/complications/peri-op management, you can make a good impression by knowing your anatomy well. You can also practice suturing/knot-tying if you really have nothing better to do, as these are skills that 3rd years will be expected to perform in the OR, and doing a good job may impress some of your residents/attendings.

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm a 2nd year highly interested in surgery/subspecialty and have been shadowing. I have seen 2 cases in the OR. Is there any point to learning, watching videos, or reading about the surgical procedures at this stage? Having paged through surgical recall I see that the emphasis is on what you do outside the OR. I don't know how 3rd year works but if it won't help me make an impression then I think I will spend my time doing other things.

You are infinitely better off, and more likely to match where you want, using that time to study the 2nd year info and scoring a few more points on Step 1.