General in General Surgery

[Misterioso]

Was watching the "The Patriot" (the one with Mel Gibson). The coolest part was the battle scene where Mel's crew got worked by General Cornwallis. You know the one where Cornwallis is sitting comfortably way in the back of the battlefield directing his troops and as soon as he saw they had the upperhand he said something nonchalant like "Shall we" and just rode off while his men battled on.

It got me to thinking about this is how I would like to one day practice surgery. Being right there in the battlefield of the OR but not doing any of the battling (operating) myself. Rather I would be like General Cornwallis and direct everything without actually having to touch the patient, much like how Cornwallis never had to do any of the fighting.

I would be right there next to another surgeon telling him and everyone else in the OR what to do and as soon as they had everything under control I'd say something cool like "Shall we" and leave with my entourage of med students and residents until the next operation. Would this be possible?

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[Meatwad]

You want to be like Cornwallis? The guy was a tea-sipping puss, and was on the losing side to boot. Got his ass handed to him by farmers.

 

[NDESTRUKT]

No. Because of the following:

1. residents and med students don't just walk around with an attending, they don't have time to waste by learning inefficiently walking around with a pompous fool - they have to get hands on experience.

2. there's not enough room in the OR for students, residents, and your foolish ego.

3. you won't be in academic medicine because you won't get along well enough with the establishment to, PLUS you think money is more important so you'll stay away from academics (according to another post)

now i could be wrong - the movie could have changed your mind...that would be pretty believable as you have some unrealistic disillusions about yourself and the rest of the world. =)

 

[Blade28]

You'll find that you actually DO want to participate in the operation (especially the tough parts, or the rare reportable cases!) when you're a resident/fellow/junior attending/senior attending.

 

[MossPoh]

I just find it funny that the mediocre movie "The Patriot" sparked this whole thought, and Cornwallis, who some believe lost the revolutionary war for the brits and resulted in a bunch of banter/excuses back in england before he went off to India. Although, he was notoriously aggressive, so I doubt he would want to leave the OR.

 

[Miami_med]

I think Misterioso is upping the ante. If you're Cornwallis, can I be Washington? I'm sort of into participating in AND winning the war.

 

[Joel Fleischman]

"I ate my crayon" - Ralph Wiggum