Indecisive Third Year Student

[WhoDeyDave82]

I was hoping anyone could help give me some advice as I am trying to decide what route to pursue. I am choosing between Ophtho and Ortho (very similar, right?!) and am having difficulty committing to either one. I love the Ophtho surgeries, I enjoy the clinic and OR mix. However, I feel like I have more intrinsic motivation for learning Orthopedics as I have more interest in musculoskeletal medicine BUT I do not like long cases and large surgical fields with lots of blood/bone.

I guess my fear is that if I pursue Ophtho I will regret not doing Ortho. I know deep down I would rather be doing Ophtho surgeries but I think I would enjoy learning the Ortho subject matter more. Finally, a concern I have is that I didn't enjoy my 2 weeks in Optho clinic enough to make me say, "This is it, I want to do this forever." I am afraid I might get tired of sitting in the dark looking in people's eyes. That said, some days in clinic were great, with appreciative patients who made you feel that you really were making a difference in their life.

SOrry if this is long and rambling, but I am looking for any sage wisdom that can help me determine the conundrum of Ophtho-love the surgeries, clinic okay, subject matter okay vs. Ortho-love the subject matter, not really a fan of the surgeries.

Thanks for any input!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Krony]

You present a bit of a conundrum - for me fascination with eyes extends to fascination with the surgeries. It's interesting to me that for you fascination with the subject matters related to ortho do not translate into surgical fascination. Every field has its drawbacks - I guess you just have to decide which is worse, ophtho clinic (a big part of ophtho) or ortho surgery (a big part of ortho). Unfortunately you seem to dislike what arguably constitutes the majority activity in each field you're considering. Most ophthalmologists I know spend 1-2 days a week in the OR, and my sense is that most ortho docs have an inverse schedule - with more time in the OR. I suppose another option would be to consider something like PM&R where you'd get to study the musculoskeletal system - and then do a pain fellowship to fulfill your procedural inclinations.