Best outcomes?

[Wboyc]

Can anyone tell me which surgical specialties have the best outcomes? Also, which specialties have the most variety of procedures and diseases? Thanks in advance!

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[ThoracicGuy]

Can anyone tell me which surgical specialties have the best outcomes? Also, which specialties have the most variety of procedures and diseases? Thanks in advance!

They all do. And none of them do.

There really is no good answer to either of your questions.

 

[thedrjojo]

Can anyone tell me which surgical specialties have the best outcomes? Also, which specialties have the most variety of procedures and diseases? Thanks in advance!

Define best outcome

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to pre-allo as OP is a premed

 

[njtrimed]

Can anyone tell me which surgical specialties have the best outcomes? Also, which specialties have the most variety of procedures and diseases? Thanks in advance!

As

They all do. And none of them do.

There really is no good answer to either of your questions.

From my perspective in a decade and a half working in surgery, @ThoracicGuy is right. If you're looking for sweeping generalizations, here are mine:

• General surgery: great outcomes for hernias, cholecystectomies, appendectomies, general lumps and bumps. Mixed outcomes with colon surgeries and other very sick patients
• ENT: you can fix a lot of chronic problems (sinus infections, tonsil-related issues, ear infections) but also have cancer patients
• Ortho: very satisfying in that many issues can be corrected with surgery, but it's tough to see elderly patients suffering, as well as cancer and joint/bone pathology like RA
• Plastics: really depends on whether you're dealing with cosmetic or reconstructive surgery
• Urology: mixed- patients tend to be older and have underlying disease processes
• OB: delivering babies, GYN: mostly cancer and abnormal pathology with mixed results
• Neuro: spine is more like ortho, brain is generally much more complicated- but in either case, outcomes are very mixed.
• Ophthalmology: most of the time, patients experience improved quality of life post-op

Again, sweeping generalizations here, and I'm only an incoming medical student who has lots of experience in the OR, not in post-operative care. I'm going on what I have learned from the surgeons I have worked with over the years, and my own observations. Surgeons fix things most of the time, and I think that has to be extremely gratifying. If I pursued surgery, I think I would be most inclined to go with ENT, ortho, or ophthalmology based purely on the likelihood of positive outcomes.

 

[Wboyc]

Define best outcome

Where the patient is either fixed or doing much better due to your intervention.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Where the patient is either fixed or doing much better due to your intervention.

Ortho, broken bones are easier to fix and can have a quick recovery time. Generally of course

 

[thedrjojo]

Where the patient is either fixed or doing much better due to your intervention.

I used to think that way, that I wanted to be a surgeon that "fixed" all your problems and you never had to see me again. Problem is, that doesn't exist (even hernias recur, cholecystectomy pts have complications, appy's get abscesses, ect), and that's a narrow minded outlook.

I'm now a complete 180... In your terms, my chosen field has some of the worst outcomes (transplant) save for oncology. We are doing good if only 10% of the pts I transplant die in 1 year, and those 90% that live are on medications for life, probably have multiple readmissions for complications, etc. But, each person I transplant on average gains 12 quality adjusted life years, and was one of the sickest patients with a 70% 3 month mortality rate... I'll take that outcome over fixing a million hernia any day...

 

[darkjedi]

Probably elective plastics as far as outcomes. Some people sometimes even wind up looking better afterwards. Sometimes.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

I would wager Emergency med takes the cake for diversity of patients and diseases. The catch being that much of that diversity doesn't get treated by the EM doc but instead revered to a specialist.

Edit: if you're only interested in surgical sub specialities it's probably a toss up