I'm Torn!!!

[OwlMyste]

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Hello,

This summer I want to volunteer at a hospital. Only, I am torn between Anesthesiology and Surgery. So could I get some answers from both sides of the curtain? Including pros and cons and lifestyle issues. I have read and researched independently some, but it is always my way to get it from the residents/actual ppl practicing surgery/anesthesiology so that I can get the un-sugarcoated, tell-it-like-it-is-cut-and-dry type of version too...all help would be greatly appreciated! 😎


Thanks,

 

[maxheadroom]

Probably doesn't matter much, anyway. A high school student volunteer isn't going to really have much experience in surgery or gas at most hospitals. There just isn't anything for a volunteer to do in most cases with those services. You'd be better off volunteering in the Peds playroom or getting a job as a unit clerk.

 

[ApacheIndian]

Volunteering can be extremely rigorous and demanding, both physically and mentally. I can empathize with your dilemma having to choose b/w Surgery and Anesthesia. For Surgery you'll have to stand and watch. For Anesthesia you'll sit and watch. Life is full of difficult choices and you must reach deep down inside yourself and ask... are you the type who likes to stand, or to sit? I don't blame you for considering lifestyle issues in volunteering for these fields... Surgery volunteers can work up to 50% more than Anesthesia volunteers most days, with the averages being 40 minutes/day in the former and 30 minutes/day in the latter. That translates to a lot of missed episodes of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Again, it depends on how bad you want it, and what you're willing to sacrifice.

I would advise you show some initiative. If you choose Anesthesia, ask to intubate yourself the very first day. Be assertive--they'll like that. If you opt for Surgery as your calling, insist on opening and make sure to tell the attending that you are very good at the game Operation... you almost never get buzzed. If you can successfully remove the patient's funny bone without complications, maybe, just maybe, they'll sign you for PGY-1 for 2012.

I applaud your efforts OwlMyste... rushing home after cheerleading practice on your BMX--pedaling away for dear life--just to come home, forgo all homework, and linger on SDN with grown-ups. Kudos to OwlMyste.

😛

(thanks Apollyon... spelling mistake corrected 😉)

 

[Apollyon]

I think you're kidding, but...

Come on Cuts, buddy - cut the person some slack, eh? At least the argument is thought out and sedate, versus some of this idiotic shiznit that people 5 or 6 years older spout like a thankful 75 y/o colon on Colace and Dulcolax.

Oh, and it's "pedaling"..."peddling" is selling!

Oy! 😉

 

[ApacheIndian]

OwlMyste knows I'm just jerking her chain a little 😉... all in good spirit...

 

[MD2b06]

Originally posted by Dr. Cuts
Volunteering can be extremely rigorous and demanding, both physically and mentally. I can empathize with your dilemma having to choose b/w Surgery and Anesthesia. For Surgery you'll have to stand and watch. For Anesthesia you'll sit and watch. Life is full of difficult choices and you must reach deep down inside yourself and ask... are you the type who likes to stand, or to sit? I don't blame you for considering lifestyle issues in volunteering for these fields... Surgery volunteers can work up to 50% more than Anesthesia volunteers most days, with the averages being 40 minutes/day in the former and 30 minutes/day in the latter. That translates to a lot of missed episodes of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Again, it depends on how bad you want it, and what you're willing to sacrifice.

I would advise you show some initiative. If you choose Anesthesia, ask to intubate yourself the very first day. Be assertive--they'll like that. If you opt for Surgery as your calling, insist on opening and make sure to tell the attending that you are very good at the game Operation... you almost never get buzzed. If you can successfully remove the patient's funny bone without complications, maybe, just maybe, they'll sign you for PGY-1 for 2012.

I applaud your efforts OwlMyste... rushing home after cheerleading practice on your BMX--peddling away for dear life--just to come home, forgo all homework, and linger on SDN with grown-ups. Kudos to OwlMyste.

😛

LMAO!

 

[pimmar]

Hey Owlmyste

Things often change after you do your clinical rotations, I thought I wanted to do surgery for sure. Even before college. Anyhow I was so gun-ho surgery until I did my rotation. I still enjoyed being in the OR, but I found that I wasn't thrilled by certain surgeries. By the time I was done with my rotation I only liked Plastics and Ortho---very competitive fields, especially as an FMG. I knew I could possibly do Plastics if I went thru the gen surgery route, but I really didn't want to do 5 yrs Gen surg plus plastics fellowship. I also missed the continuity of care that I had experience in IM, so I was really freaking out after I did surgery and started to wonder what I was going to do. Finally on my last rotation of my 3rd year I did my Ob-Gyn rotation and really loved it. For me it was the pace, I really enjoyed the fast pace of Ob-Gyn, the continuity of care, delivering babies, and being in the OR. So I had a great combo, and I felt also that the personalities in Ob-Gyn were more similar to mine. Anyhow that is how I made my decision. I have a friend who just decided a few weeks ago that he wants to do Path and is scrambling for a Path spot. So in the end you will really know what best appeals to you when you are on call in the middle of the night...for me sitting and taking a long detailed history of what the problem was and then sitting around waiting for labs/results was too frustrating, at 2 am I rather be yelling push!!!! Anyhow...you will know. Good luck.

 

[The Pill Counter]

Owlmyste, don't you think you'd be better off gathering this info in the pre-allo or pre-do forum with other people in your situation. I think the multiple threads you've started on many of the specialty forums are getting tedious.

 

[womansurg]

Originally posted by Dr. Cuts
I applaud your efforts OwlMyste... rushing home after cheerleading practice on your BMX--pedaling away for dear life--just to come home, forgo all homework, and linger on SDN with grown-ups

Sheesh, she's nineteen years old. When I was that age I'd been living on my own for two years, was working a fulltime job and paying my own way through college.

 

[OwlMyste]

Quoted by Dr CutsI applaud your efforts OwlMyste... rushing home after cheerleading practice on your BMX--pedaling away for dear life--just to come home, forgo all homework, and linger on SDN with grown-ups


LOL... ...Actually I drive a 97 ford ranger extended cab...its my dads...and he promised me he would buy me a car when I graduate..(I know, I seem to have a pretty cush lifestyle,😎..)...and I would rather run stark naked thru NYC rather than be a cheerleader...(bad joke, i know, but you get the scenario😛)...tennis is my sport of choice...tennis kicks ass! just got done playing a game of tennis last friday...the girls won, but the guys lost... I was on 2nd doubles and my playing partner and me lost by one game...them 6, us 5...i know tennis is supposed to be 8 games per thing...but we kept getting tied i guess...I was about to pass out because the coach didnt provide for us water...(im not kidding...)..anyhow..just thought i'd reply...

 

[OwlMyste]

Originally posted by womansurg
Sheesh, she's nineteen years old. When I was that age I'd been living on my own for two years, was working a fulltime job and paying my own way through college.

My mother was doing the same thing when she was about my age...because she had an alcoholic mother..(who is now been sober since 1980, and she has renewed her relationship with her...) so my mother felt that she wanted me to have the things she didnt have, as well as the lifestyle she didnt have...which is prolly why I have what some would see as a cush lifestyle...so I'm grateful to my parents for the lifestyle I've got because I know some people don't get to have it.


oh...Dr.Cuts...Mighty Morphin Power Rangers sucked to me...never watched them...😛...but if you liked them, thats okay too... 😛

 

[doctim]

did barbara striesand(sp?) sing that song --= "people"?

 

[iamubiquitous]

Originally posted by Dr. Cuts
Volunteering can be extremely rigorous and demanding, both physically and mentally. I can empathize with your dilemma having to choose b/w Surgery and Anesthesia. For Surgery you'll have to stand and watch. For Anesthesia you'll sit and watch. Life is full of difficult choices and you must reach deep down inside yourself and ask... are you the type who likes to stand, or to sit? I don't blame you for considering lifestyle issues in volunteering for these fields... Surgery volunteers can work up to 50% more than Anesthesia volunteers most days, with the averages being 40 minutes/day in the former and 30 minutes/day in the latter. That translates to a lot of missed episodes of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Again, it depends on how bad you want it, and what you're willing to sacrifice.

I would advise you show some initiative. If you choose Anesthesia, ask to intubate yourself the very first day. Be assertive--they'll like that. If you opt for Surgery as your calling, insist on opening and make sure to tell the attending that you are very good at the game Operation... you almost never get buzzed. If you can successfully remove the patient's funny bone without complications, maybe, just maybe, they'll sign you for PGY-1 for 2012.

I applaud your efforts OwlMyste... rushing home after cheerleading practice on your BMX--pedaling away for dear life--just to come home, forgo all homework, and linger on SDN with grown-ups. Kudos to OwlMyste.

😛

(thanks Apollyon... spelling mistake corrected 😉)

Dude, that was f-ing hilarious!!!

You rock

iau

 

[OwlMyste]

Originally posted by iamubiquitous
Dude, that was f-ing hilarious!!!

You rock

iau

.........

 

[iamubiquitous]

Originally posted by OwlMyste
.........

Listen owl

dont you ......... me

that post was double over funny

period

and you know it

now be an adult and tell him what a great piece of work that was

 

[carrigallen]

Originally posted by Dr. Cuts
Volunteering can be extremely rigorous and demanding, both physically and mentally. I can empathize with your dilemma having to choose b/w Surgery and Anesthesia. For Surgery you'll have to stand and watch. For Anesthesia you'll sit and watch. Life is full of difficult choices and you must reach deep down inside yourself and ask... are you the type who likes to stand, or to sit? I don't blame you for considering lifestyle issues in volunteering for these fields... Surgery volunteers can work up to 50% more than Anesthesia volunteers most days, with the averages being 40 minutes/day in the former and 30 minutes/day in the latter. That translates to a lot of missed episodes of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Again, it depends on how bad you want it, and what you're willing to sacrifice.

I would advise you show some initiative. If you choose Anesthesia, ask to intubate yourself the very first day. Be assertive--they'll like that. If you opt for Surgery as your calling, insist on opening and make sure to tell the attending that you are very good at the game Operation... you almost never get buzzed. If you can successfully remove the patient's funny bone without complications, maybe, just maybe, they'll sign you for PGY-1 for 2012.

I applaud your efforts OwlMyste... rushing home after cheerleading practice on your BMX--pedaling away for dear life--just to come home, forgo all homework, and linger on SDN with grown-ups. Kudos to OwlMyste.

😛

(thanks Apollyon... spelling mistake corrected 😉)

 

[surge]

Dr. Cuts, that was a classic! LMAO!


Okay, seriously - Jessica, sweetie, I really think you should reevaluate your methods here. I understand your passion, but you're going about it the wrong way (i.e. essentially hijacking the graduate medical education forums).

I can tell you this because I'm not too far up from you. I'm only starting medschool in the fall.

These guys here are an incredibly valuable resource, and just a cool bunch overall (crazy, yes, but cool nonetheless 😉 ), but you can't come in rushing like you're one of them. Relax a little. Slow down. I know you're type A - most premeds are - but your attitude is counterproductive. You'll get much further (and piss off much fewer potential connections and colleagues) if you take it one step at a time.

Drop me a note, visit the pre-med and med forums, enjoy life. And definitely do surgery.

 

[OwlMyste]

Originally posted by iamubiquitous
Listen owl

dont you ......... me

that post was double over funny

period

and you know it

now be an adult and tell him what a great piece of work that was

.............😛 😛