Kim Cox

[adjsmj]

I was just wondering what area of surgery has the most variety of techniques, procedures etc.

Thanks

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[Winged Scapula]

That's really not a question I feel qualified to answer - after all, I haven't tried all the surgical subspecialties so any answer I would give would be largely based on anecdotes I've heard.

However, I will advocate Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery (PRS) as being highly versatile, with a grand variety of procedures, on all ages and all parts of the body. Like any specialty though - surgical or not - you may find yourself doing more and more specialized work as you become known for a certain procedure. Generally, the more you do something the better you become at it.

At any rate, PRS is something that excites me but I'm sure there are other surgical fields with lots of variety as well.

 

[adjsmj]

thanks for the reply, are you planning on going into plastics? I saw you are in a general surgery program. Do you have to complete a year of gen. surgery first? If you are staying in gen. surgery what attracted you to it?

 

[jylu]

Originally posted by adjsmj:
•I was just wondering what area of surgery has the most variety of techniques, procedures etc.

Thanks•

One word: ENT.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Originally posted by adjsmj:
•thanks for the reply, are you planning on going into plastics? I saw you are in a general surgery program. Do you have to complete a year of gen. surgery first? If you are staying in gen. surgery what attracted you to it?•

Yes I am currently planning on pursuing training in PRS. The traditional or Independent mode of training requires at least 3 years of General Surgery training followed by at least 2 years of Plastic Surgery training. Although you only need 3 years of Gen Surg, the majority of accepted applicants for Plastics spots have completed the full 5+ years of General Surgery.

More recently, Integrated Models of training have cropped up which match students into PRS programs as a 4th year medical student. These are few and far between and highly competitive and unfortunately, I didn't match into one of them. So I am going through the traditional route.

Very little about General Surgery attracts me...

 

[adjsmj]

I have two questions one for jylu. You said ENT had the most variety why? Second, Kim I have read that some plastics work is done by ENT is that true?

 

[Winged Scapula]

Originally posted by adjsmj:
•Second, Kim I have read that some plastics work is done by ENT is that true?•

This is true. Some of the best plastic surgeons I have met have been triple boarded - Gen Surg, Plastics and ENT. Obviously they focus on Head and Neck work and aren't doing the breast reconstructions or repairs on other parts of the body. You'll find many surgical techiques are shared across disciplines and that ENT and Plastics share a lot of procedures.

Hope this helps.