Crap! I think I'm in love

[drtx]

I freakin' love transplant surgery. It has everything I love about medicine, surgery. I am married, female and have 2 school age children....I haven't been this giddy since I was a 3rd year med student on my first gen surg rotation!

Not that you all care, just felt like I needed to say that. ( should I jump up and down on a couch now so that I certify that I am out of my mind?)

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[FatPigeon]

I freakin' love transplant surgery.

Nice! Yea, it's an awesome field.....

I am married, female and have 2 school age children....

Hmm...not so awesome.

I can't imagine anybody pulling this off, but good luck trying. You do know that most organs are harvested at 3 in the morning, and that you'll be riding in helicopters to get there...right? Oh, and the timing is almost never right, so prepare to wait half the night in some faculty lounge...and then to follow up with your patients for years and years after the operation, fighting a losing low-paying battle, while the organ you've implanted is slowly rejected.

 

[VincentAdultman]

I freakin' love transplant surgery. It has everything I love about medicine, surgery. I am married, female and have 2 school age children....I haven't been this giddy since I was a 3rd year med student on my first gen surg rotation!

Not that you all care, just felt like I needed to say that. ( should I jump up and down on a couch now so that I certify that I am out of my mind?)

Good luck with that.

After my month as transplant inten it took weeks before I stopped seeing tac levels in my sleep.

Sadly, the memories will be with me longer.

 

[goldenwest]

The big turnoff to transplant for me is a lifetime of dodging hepatitis - what's your view on it?

 

[filter07]

Thank god, someone has to do it

 

[beaverfetus]

as someone who has been on three aborted DCDs in four days, I commend you and, affirm that you are nuts.

Fellows have no lives, and suffer greatly. It's no mystery why most of our fellows are FMGs. That being said, they do great work. Best of luck to you

 

[drtx]

You know, seriously, when I was applying for gen surg with my kids and family everyone said there is no way you will be able to do it. It definitely is not easy but I love what I do and it shows...especially with the kids. We were all sitting on my bed the other night about 8pm before I was going in for a liver transplant. They were excited that someone was "getting a brand new liver". Before this, I worked a full day, drove home, cooked dinner, helped with homework and visited a little with everyone and operated all night and the next day. The next night I was hosed-- but it is all worth it and I am just glad I have found what I really like for the future.

 

[ESU_MD]

I freakin' love transplant surgery. I am married, female and have 2 school age children...

abdominal organ transplant surgeon?!?

must be mid-life crisis....


if you like it though... go for it. its pretty easy to get a good fellowship these days at a good place.

plus I'll need a good transplant surgeon to give me a new liver after I catch hepatitis from one of my ungrateful patients.

 

[homealone3]

I freakin' love transplant surgery. ....I haven't been this giddy since I was a 3rd year med student on my first gen surg rotation!

Giddy isn't a good emotion for a surgeon to have. Maybe you should have gone into OB/GYN.

 

[maxheadroom]

Remember that old SNL sketch "Bad Idea Jeans"? That's what transplant is for a woman with children. Your kids won't see their mother much and when they do, you'll be a stranger. I'm a big proponent of women in surgery, but if you want to be a mother of any value at all, Transplant is a terrible idea. One of my best friends is in his second year of practice as a transplant surgeon at a mid-level academic center. He does great cases. He works his ***** off. His senior partners all work their *****es off. Nights, weekends, holidays . . . all are impinged upon by any surgical practice. Transplant pretty much demands that you be ready to work at any time your pager goes off. My friend missed the birth of his first child -- he was gone on a procurement. That's a very common story and most people in Transplant have similar stories.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Giddy isn't a good emotion for a surgeon to have. Maybe you should have gone into OB/GYN.

Being sexist isn't a good behavior for a surgeon to have either.

 

[FatPigeon]

Being sexist isn't a good behavior for a surgeon to have either.

And where have you actually found "giddy" obstetricians? I spent a good six weeks with them and I certainly didn't see any. However I did see quite a bit of hate, bitterness and anger...

 

[UNMorBUST]

Glad you found something you really want to do. Good luck.

 

[Winged Scapula]

And where have you actually found "giddy" obstetricians? I spent a good six weeks with them and I certainly didn't see any. However I did see quite a bit of hate, bitterness and anger...

Excellent point.

 

[Amgen1]

Don't be afraid to pursue transplant as a career choice. we desperately need more good transplant surgeons out there.

Also, we have a female married transplant surgeon with kids at our institution who everyone loves. However, she does panc and kidney and no livers.

Just keep in mind, as it is with all things, your lifestyle is dependent on your practice set up. Our transplant surgeons are on certain months and off others. Those months they are on suck, but those months they are "off" (only clinic and elective operations) are pretty nice. Just search around for the right job for you

 

[BlondeDocteur]

I agree with Amgen, but I also find it hilarious that medical students (my humble self included) are trying to weigh in seriously on your career choice. If you've found what you love, and you're a surgery resident taking that call and caring for those patients, I'd be willing to bet you're making a well-considered decision.

Academic transplant peeps do have time to run their labs, go to conferences and so forth (at least at my institution), making their life a bit better. Perhaps in PP you'd have the option to form a group of tx surgeons where each of you take call q5-7, meaning on 4-6 nights of the week you'd be home like anyone else?

And as far as I know, liver transplant patients are managed medically pre- and post-op by dedicated transplant hepatologists, not the surgeon (again, at least at my institution), so I'm not sure the onus of longitudinal care would fall on you.

The thing that I think matters more than anything is the support of your family-- if your husband and children are in, then why not?!

 

[smq123]

Perhaps in PP you'd have the option to form a group of tx surgeons where each of you take call q5-7, meaning on 4-6 nights of the week you'd be home like anyone else?

How common is private practice transplant surgery? I was always under the impression that transplant was one of those fields that was rarely practiced outside of an academic setting?....but I could be wrong.

The thing that I think matters more than anything is the support of your family-- if your husband and children are in, then why not?!

Granted, I am also just a med student - but I would think that it'd be particularly important for the OP to explain to her husband (particularly if her husband is not a physician) just how difficult a transplant surgeon's life can be.... He may be supportive of the idea now, but not necessarily aware of the reality.

 

[Blade28]

For me? Lung transplant, yes. Kidney and liver (and pancreas)? Not so much.

 

[drtx]

My family has experienced the reality of the hardships with regards to lifestyle for quite some time now and we manage to do really well as a family. I just got done with 3 kidneys over the weekend and lost a potential liver but hey, with the holidays--we'll get one and I hope I get to do a pancreas before the month is out.

The attendings here rotate procurement, rounds and tx, and elective cases ...there are 4 and it seems to be a very good set up.

 

[ESU_MD]

How common is private practice transplant surgery?
.

In my residency there were private practice guys who did kidneys and pancreas.

There are private hospitals that do livers and hearts but they are few and far

Even though I hated kidney transplants, I always thought it was cool when the clamp came off and the organ came to life....

 

[homealone3]

Being sexist isn't a good behavior for a surgeon to have either.

I've met a lot of giddy male ob/gyn's as well. The field is ideal for those who feel the need to be goofy or silly with excitement. Not always a negative, many patients value such enthusiasm in their ob.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I've met a lot of giddy male ob/gyn's as well. The field is ideal for those who feel the need to be goofy or silly with excitement. Not always a negative, many patients value such enthusiasm in their ob.

Gotcha...I thought you were using "giddy" as a synonym for being feminine or girlish. Thanks for the clarification (although I have not met a lot of giddy OBGs myself).