Boldly going where no man has gone before

[Ttan]

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This question is ridiculous but serious at the same time.

Say someone was going to become a physician and at the same time wanted nothing more than to practice in space in the future. What physician career do you all think has the most value on a space craft or even on a space establishment of some sort?

 

[SplenoMegastar]

I'd say a family medicine and psychiatry combo but that's just a thought.

 

[psychbender]

This question is ridiculous but serious at the same time.

Say someone was going to become a physician and at the same time wanted nothing more than to practice in space in the future. What physician career do you all think has the most value on a space craft or even on a space establishment of some sort?

I really, really hope you are joking or high (or working on a scifi novel, which would be really cool), because basing a decision for medical specialty based on the remote possibility of a role on a single space mission, or an even more unlikely permanent orbital/lunar establishment is absolutely idiotic.

That having been said, FM (or IM) + Aerospace Medicine would probably be a good bet to cover the general medical issues faced by flight crews, and the added physiologic changes induced by working in microgravity. Aerospace Med itself is actually really interesting, but I personally wouldn't want to make a career out of caring for just pilots and astronauts.

Now, if this is some interstellar war craft or exploratory vessel (where you may be expecting traumas and no ability to evac casualties back home), then you'd probably need to have a surgeon on board, as well.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

I think the OP is already in space, however in all seriousness there is a specialty called Aerospace Medicine through the military that deals primariliy with the care of pilots/astronauts and potentially allows the practitioner access to flying.

 

[Old_Mil]

...

 

[omegaman]

EM, IM or FP would be good choices, but then you need to try to get in to the two year fellowship in space medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

 

[Apollyon]

Wow, you like the unformatted lists, don't you?

And where is Story Musgrave on your list?

 

[Apollyon]

I'd say a family medicine and psychiatry combo but that's just a thought.

Astronauts are exceedingly healthy, the best of the best of military aviators (from that ilk) and civilians likewise. A regular FM doc wouldn't cut it. Moreover, they're psychologically VERY strong - and that does not consider one person's evaluation that about 25% show variable signs of autism. If there's ANY psych - AT ALL - out the door.

In fact, if someone did have some sort of psychological break in space, there's a procedure for that - it's like a big Hefty bag, and enough Haldol to soak all of the receptors. Moreover, these are really, really smart people - any monkey can do a straightforward appendectomy, especially with someone guiding them through it (the real reason for a specialist, like a surgeon, is for when it's not straightforward - that's when you need the skill).

As an aside about smart people, when Lisa Nowak was being questioned by police, one of the officers said something to the effect of "she is smarter than me, and we both knew it - she was playing games with me, and running circles around me".

So, even though your post was in jest, it is not based in truth.

 

[chartero]

Robert Thirsk, currently aboard the ISS, was selected for Canada's first class of astronauts while in residency in FM.

 

[SplenoMegastar]

Astronauts are exceedingly healthy, the best of the best of military aviators (from that ilk) and civilians likewise. A regular FM doc wouldn't cut it. Moreover, they're psychologically VERY strong - and that does not consider one person's evaluation that about 25% show variable signs of autism. If there's ANY psych - AT ALL - out the door.

In fact, if someone did have some sort of psychological break in space, there's a procedure for that - it's like a big Hefty bag, and enough Haldol to soak all of the receptors. Moreover, these are really, really smart people - any monkey can do a straightforward appendectomy, especially with someone guiding them through it (the real reason for a specialist, like a surgeon, is for when it's not straightforward - that's when you need the skill).

As an aside about smart people, when Lisa Nowak was being questioned by police, one of the officers said something to the effect of "she is smarter than me, and we both knew it - she was playing games with me, and running circles around me".

So, even though your post was in jest, it is not based in truth.

It wasn't in jest and I think "just a thought" suggested that I wasn't pretending to state fact. It was just apparently wrong, like a large percentage of the posts on SDN. For that, I apologize. I guess I figured FM knows a little about everything coming through the door (clearly I forgot aerospace med existed) and that I personally could see how a psychiatrist could be useful in such a situation. I'm glad the OP got better advice than mine though.

 

[Gastrapathy]

I thought this was going to be a Ob-gyn thread.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

I thought this was going to be a Ob-gyn thread.

Nah, OB is generally "boldly going where at least one man has gone before" 😀

 

[DarthNeurology]

This question is ridiculous but serious at the same time.

Say someone was going to become a physician and at the same time wanted nothing more than to practice in space in the future. What physician career do you all think has the most value on a space craft or even on a space establishment of some sort?

General Surgery definitely, you can always consult for medicine stuff via long range, even psychiatry can be done via long range video conferencing, you could even do biopsies and send back the images for a pathologist on earth to look at. This is of course supposing that there is a *manned* lunar colony to mine Helium-3 on the Moon, which will probably happen within the next three decades. Otherwise for just going up in a shuttle, or the new shuttle or even just a short moon mission, probably space medicine is best by far.

There that woman who was an ER doc who went to the South Pole, and pretty much was the colony's doctor, and she got a breast lump and had to biopsy herself and give herself chemo they air dropped in, like her father had warned her she might have to do (operate on herself being the sole doctor), and sadly she passed on a couple months ago. She followed oncologists instructions via satellite for her chemo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerri_Nielsen

 

[dragonfly99]

Darn!
I thought this post was going to be about something interesting...like a lovelorn intern wanting to hook up with a department chair or something...only happens on Gray's Anatomy!

 

[DarthNeurology]

Darn!
I thought this post was going to be about something interesting...like a lovelorn intern wanting to hook up with a department chair or something...only happens on Gray's Anatomy!

LOL that's funny

 

[GuzzyRon]

Nah, OB is generally "boldly going where at least one man has gone before" 😀

lol

 

[Ttan]

General Surgery definitely, you can always consult for medicine stuff via long range, even psychiatry can be done via long range video conferencing, you could even do biopsies and send back the images for a pathologist on earth to look at. This is of course supposing that there is a *manned* lunar colony to mine Helium-3 on the Moon, which will probably happen within the next three decades. Otherwise for just going up in a shuttle, or the new shuttle or even just a short moon mission, probably space medicine is best by far.

There that woman who was an ER doc who went to the South Pole, and pretty much was the colony's doctor, and she got a breast lump and had to biopsy herself and give herself chemo they air dropped in, like her father had warned her she might have to do (operate on herself being the sole doctor), and sadly she passed on a couple months ago. She followed oncologists instructions via satellite for her chemo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerri_Nielsen

See, thats exactly what I was thinking! If some sort of legitimate space medicine does exist at some point, its going to be all about the mechanics aka the surgeons. Everything else done on a projector.

 

[SocialistMD]

... If some sort of legitimate space medicine does exist at some point, its going to be all about the mechanics aka the surgeons...

Mechanics, eh? 🙄

 

[DrJosephKim]

Become a NASA physician. The American Board of Preventive Medicine has John S. Crowley, MD, MPH (Vice Chair, Aerospace Medicine) on its board.

It's only a matter of time before Aerospace Medicine becomes a recognized subspecialty.

 

[chartero]

Aerospace Medicine is a recognized specialty: ABMS, AOBMS. Certification in Aerospace Medicine comes through the preventive medicine boards, the ABPM or AOBPM. The ACGME database currently lists four Aerospace Medicine residency programs, under Preventive Medicine and identified in the listings - two civilian (Wright State, UTMB Galveston/NASA) and two military (Navy, Air Force). I don't see any in the AOA database. Alternatively, if you residency-train and certify in another area of preventive medicine - Occupational Medicine or Public Health and General Preventive Medicine - then practice Aerospace Medicine "essentially full time" for at least two years, there's a Special Pathway to certification.

Related: The Aerospace Medical Association, whose constituents includes the Space Medicine Branch and the American Society of Aerospace Medicine Specialists. Affiliated organizations include an Aerospace Medical Student & Resident Organization (no link). There's a separate Space Nursing Society.