Best type of surgeon to shadow?

[mechengmed]

I'm going to try to start shadowing a surgeon in the next week or two and am wondering what type would be most beneficial to shadow. The types of surgeons available are: general, trauma, surgical oncology, cardiothoracic, and vascular.

What have the experiences that you have had while shadowing a surgeon been like and is there one that you would recommend over another?

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[angemon89]

The one that sounds best to you.

From that list I'd personally pick cardiothoracic or trauma.

 

[tiedyeddog]

I'd pick something slower paced, maybe ENT or urology if your could?

 

[mechengmed]

I'd pick something slower paced, maybe ENT or urology if your could?

Why would you recommend something slow paced?

 

[DAPI]

I'm going to try to start shadowing a surgeon in the next week or two and am wondering what type would be most beneficial to shadow. The types of surgeons available are: general, trauma, surgical oncology, cardiothoracic, and vascular.

What have the experiences that you have had while shadowing a surgeon been like and is there one that you would recommend over another?

General is going to be the same boring (imo) stuff over and over - like hernias, draining boils, etc.

Trauma may be a little too quickly paced for anyone to stop and actually explain anything to you or for you to actually learn anything

Surgical Oncology could be really good. The surgeons are probably not all that time crunched and probably would be more open to explaining things as they will already have a very clear plan of action for the day so explaining it could be easy. Also, you may be able to get some clinic time with them?

Cardiothoracic - not too sure on this one. Seems like it could be a very stressful environment and because of that, they may not have time to explain all that much.

Vascular - this may all be laparoscopic stuff so it may not be very interesting at all, but I do not really know.

That just my 2 cents. If I were to pick one, I would definitely pick surgical oncology, but you may see what whoever is hooking you up with this has to say about each of them.

 

[boshtrich]

Why would you recommend something slow paced?

Slow paced generally means that they will have more time to actually talk to you and explain what they are doing and why they are doing it, as opposed to fast-paced chaos where you are totally ignored. Both situations can be very interesting and educational, but slow paced physicians usually have more time for the people shadowing. It really depends on your personal preference.

 

[Xenops]

It's too bad you don't have orthopedic as an option, because 1) they're not as tense and stressed-out, 2) the surgeries are shorter so you can take snack breaks, 3) ummm...Because they're awesome? 😀

Edit: the REAL 3) is that they also have time to explain things to you...and banter with you too!

 

[Poetic Silence]

I got to scrub in for a gallectomy my senior year of HS. Technically, I was shadowing the anesthesiologist, but I was there right next to the patient observing the surgeons do their thing.

Small rural hospital and networking made that unforgettable experience possible.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

The one you are most interested in, duh! 😉

 

[sacrament]

General is going to be the same boring (imo) stuff over and over - like hernias, draining boils, etc.

Any surgical field is going to be the same stuff over and over again. Shadow a CT surgeon for a week and you'll see a bunch of CABGs and a couple valves, and on a normal week (especially if you're not doing overnight call with them) that'll be the extent of the variety.

Trauma surgery is increasingly a non-operative field, which is something to keep in mind. That's not to say it isn't a worthy field, it's just become mostly a support role for the subspecialists.