I have to agree with some of what has been said....
1. I had always thought of entering medicine. Not sure I grasped the different fields growing up... they were probably all the same blur in my head.
2. I like to think and do.
3. Most of what we do in surgery is not ~palliative but more curative.
4. Human nature what it is and me being who I am, I knew I would be frustrated and fed up giving medical guidance to be ignored. There is little issue of non-compliance with cholecystectomy.
5. Hours can be long. To me, a long (3+ hours) OR case is short compared to having to listen to some of the 15-30minutes of drivel, whining, and excuses I heard all the time from patients during medicine rotations. I enjoy talking to patients. I enjoy diagnostic challenges. But, I don't tolerate politicians that try to convince me an expired "tax cut" is not a "tax increase" nor do I tolerate a obese patient gaining wait, sitting on the couch telling me, "I am really trying to loose weight, I don't eat very much, I have really cut back" or the diabetic that has a H1c of 14 telling me, "I've really been doing a good job with my diet and exercise...". God bless the PCPs that can put up with it. I just don't have that personality.
From my perspective, heaping on more medications to counter patient non-compliance (smoking, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, dyslipidemia, etc...), is in effect prolonged palliative care.