Anyone else in the same shoes?

[Spodermin]

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I have no idea what speciality I want and I have to decide pretty soon if I want to apply this match.

I was (still am) interested in neurosurgery but I won't be pursuing that due to many reasons.
I thought I narrowed it down to medicine -> cardiology VS radiology. But surgery is back on the radar again. I'm on a surgical rotation now and I love the OT. Thinking about not operating again makes me a bit sad. But I still miss the ddx of IM.

I'm very confused, and I feel like I'm gonna make a decision that I'm going to regret. I don't want to end up having to switch residencies. What should I do?

 

[Entadus]

do you NEED to be a surgeon to be happy (enjoy your life)? It's a yes or no. Just decide that one question as best as you can!

 

[NotaCop]

Go into telemedicine so you can sling prescriptions via the web. Then you’ll be a webslinger

 

[VincentAdultman]

If you cant see yourself being out of the OR for the rest of your life then do Surgery. Theres still a "medical" component to surgery if you really miss that.

If you're fine with not seeing the OR or not operating ever again then do IM.

If you're a sociopath then do rads.

 

[Groy]

Spodrmn pls,

If you're interested in the content of nsurg and not the lifestyle or other elements (I don't wanna assume), then maybe go into a specialty that helps treat neurological disease like neurology (specifically neurovascular or functional), interventional neuroradiology, or pm&r.

I am absolutely floored by cerebrovascular disease and it's all I ever wanna do, but I need to sleep 7+ hours. I'll take the cake but don't wanna eat any of it. You got this!

Your pal,

Dolan

 

[Newyawk]

Im not in your shoes yet, but i have a feeling i will be soon.. gl homie

 

[longhaul3]

Will you be pining for the OR when you're a PGY-3 on nephrology, it's 1pm, and you've been rounding on 5 patients since 9am while they're on the 3rd case of the day downstairs?

 

[CherryRedDracul]

I loved the OR, too, but I made the decision to go into radiology because I'm a sociopath.

 

[marstonne]

FWIW I was in a similar position. Ended up going for IM after a lot of back and forth. What I realized: first, most people (whether they admit it or not) could probably be happy in more than one specialty, and second, I figured out that for me at least, all the trepidation I was having may be a sign that surgery was not the right choice. It would’ve been a GOOD choice, but not the right choice for me and my family and our goals for our life.

I am very happy with my choice to pursue IM and like you, am strongly considering a fellowship that is hands on (GI for me). I miss the OR sometimes, and get fed up when I’m rounding at 11:45, but I know surgery was not the right choice for me in the long term. Follow your intuition and make a choice, chances are much more likely than not it’ll work out just fine. And remember, the grass is always greener. What I’m tired of, someone else may envy and vice versa. That was true as a MS1 and it’s true now.

 

[ACSurgeon]

I have no idea what speciality I want and I have to decide pretty soon if I want to apply this match.

I was (still am) interested in neurosurgery but I won't be pursuing that due to many reasons.
I thought I narrowed it down to medicine -> cardiology VS radiology. But surgery is back on the radar again. I'm on a surgical rotation now and I love the OT. Thinking about not operating again makes me a bit sad. But I still miss the ddx of IM.

I'm very confused, and I feel like I'm gonna make a decision that I'm going to regret. I don't want to end up having to switch residencies. What should I do?

Surgery with critical care fellowship. Best of all worlds

 

[Spodermin]

Will you be pining for the OR when you're a PGY-3 on nephrology, it's 1pm, and you've been rounding on 5 patients since 9am while they're on the 3rd case of the day downstairs?

I think so yeah

I loved the OR, too, but I made the decision to go into radiology because I'm a sociopath.

Why did you end up doing rads?

 

[whatisthisstuff]

I feel like if lifestyle stuff isn't scaring you away from neurosurgery, you are considering IM, and you want to do surgery then you should go general surg. You do alot of medicine and you do surgery. Fellowship options once you find what you really like.

 

[Shambere]

I loved the OR, too, but I made the decision to go into radiology because I'm a sociopath.

you made the wrong choice then.
Or maybe the word you wanted to use is schizoid.

 

[Shambere]

I feel like if lifestyle stuff isn't scaring you away from neurosurgery, you are considering IM, and you want to do surgery then you should go general surg. You do alot of medicine and you do surgery. Fellowship options once you find what you really like.

terrible advice, if he wants to work on the brain, why do GS? Doesnt make sense. After residency, Neuro call is actually cusher than Gen Call

 

[CherryRedDracul]

I think so yeah


Why did you end up doing rads?

Truth be told, it was a combination of lifestyle, the problem-solving nature of the field and the need to have a wide breadth of medical/surgical knowledge, the fun of being a diagnostician without having the baggage that comes with having to see patients (i.e., paperwork, disposition, etc.), the ability to see a wide variety of pathology through the hospital (or outpatient imaging centers), and working with cutting-edge imaging technology. In addition, they can do several minimally-invasive procedures not limited to biopsies, drains, joint aspirations, etc. At our institution, we also adjust lap bands.

And I might be in the minority of radiologists, but I do enjoy doing fluoroscopic procedures like esophagrams, upper GI series, barium enemas, and cystograms.

But, like I stated earlier, I still do miss the OR, which is why I'm considering heading into IR.

you made the wrong choice then.
Or maybe the word you wanted to use is schizoid.

Sorry, I meant histrionic.

 

[whatisthisstuff]

terrible advice, if he wants to work on the brain, why do GS? Doesnt make sense. After residency, Neuro call is actually cusher than Gen Call

No its not. He didn't mention being that into neuro. He said he wanted to do neurosurgery and then was considering other completely non-neuro fields (GI, Cards, Surgery). He specifically mentioned loving the OR. Hence to why given all that information I wouldn't suggest a completely non surgical field. If he loves neuro that much then sure consider neuro but thats not the information this person gave.

 

[IMreshopeful]

No its not. He didn't mention being that into neuro. He said he wanted to do neurosurgery and then was considering other completely non-neuro fields (GI, Cards, Surgery). He specifically mentioned loving the OR. Hence to why given all that information I wouldn't suggest a completely non surgical field. If he loves neuro that much then sure consider neuro but thats not the information this person gave.

OP posted in another thread in the IM subforum that he hates medicine but loves cardiology. What I think he loves is the idea or concept of cathing, not necessarily taking care of patients with CHF, arrhythmias, CAD. I get the sense that he basically wants to be in a specialty where he gets to do tons of procedures but doesn’t have to deal with talking to patients much. IM and most of it’s subspecialty branches require you to talk to patients, maintain a clinic, see consults, round on inpatients, etc. If he can’t tolerate doing that he should not do IM.

For similar reasons, If I were OP I would not do surgery