Need help/advice.

[futuresurgeon101]

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So, I want to become a general surgeon or pediatrician. Can someone tell me how are the education requirements after med school for these 2 specialities and how hard is it. Thanks

 

[mimelim]

In simple terms, after 4 years of medical school, you must complete a residency in a particular specialty. For general surgery, this is 5 years. For pediatrics, it is 3. Residencies are followed by optional sub-specialty training called fellowships. For more general information, the wikipedia is reasonable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residency_(medicine) However, it is worth noting that while there are standard tracks, there are a lot of different variations on this in terms of time spent.

How hard the training is depends entirely on the individual. General surgery programs have attrition rates in the 5-25% range. A lot of that is do to how, "hard" life is and the realization that becoming a surgeon is not for everyone. While every specialty, including pediatrics has attrition, surgery is particularly brutal.

 

[futuresurgeon101]

Thank you @mimelim. I wanted to become a pediatrician surgeon, but talked to a pediatrician doctor. He told me that it's rare to find jobs in pediatrician surgery.

So, do you have a favorite list of specialties and least favorite?

 

[njtrimed]

I wanted to become a pediatrician surgeon, but talked to a pediatrician doctor. He told me that it's rare to find jobs in pediatrician surgery.

Pediatric surgery is a specialty that I believe requires a two year fellowship after five years of general (or orthopedic, or whatever specialty you've chosen) surgery. It's not that it's "rare" so much as it's highly competitive. Surgery is competitive in the first place, and the more specialized you get beyond general surgery, the more competitive it gets. There are also certain surgical fields where you may end up working mostly with kids without doing additional fellowships, such as ENT (otolaryngology).

I would highly recommend you start shadowing so you have a better idea of what surgeons and medical doctors do. You'll have plenty of time to decide what you actually want to pursue during medical school, but shadowing will give you a sense of what each field actually entails. Personally, as someone with a lot of experience in the OR, I really enjoy scrubbing in on every surgical service for different reasons and there are only a few specialties I could not seeing myself pursuing.

 

[futuresurgeon101]

@njtrimed hey, thanks for the advice. I assume you're from New Jersey haha lol. I'm from NYC btw, I'm 16 currently and I volunteer at a hospital. I do clerical aide and basic stuff for nurses. I know most hospitals look for 18 year +. Can you tell me some places that I can shadow at.

 

[njtrimed]

@njtrimed hey, thanks for the advice. I assume you're from New Jersey haha lol. I'm from NYC btw, I'm 16 currently and I volunteer at a hospital. I do clerical aide and basic stuff for nurses. I know most hospitals look for 18 year +. Can you tell me some places that I can shadow at.

I'm honestly not sure. It used to be that anyone who worked in a perioperative setting could bring their kid or niece/nephew into the OR to watch. Now the guidelines are very strict and require anyone in the OR to have a good reason to be there, and generally with paperwork involved. You'd really have to start asking around and googling this to see if there are any shadowing programs open to high school students.

 

[mimelim]

Thank you @mimelim. I wanted to become a pediatrician surgeon, but talked to a pediatrician doctor. He told me that it's rare to find jobs in pediatrician surgery.

So, do you have a favorite list of specialties and least favorite?

I am in a vascular surgery residency, so obviously vascular surgery is my favorite.

Pediatric surgery as @njtrimed points out is a sub-specialty of general surgery and is typically a 2 year fellowship after completion of 5 years of general surgery. As he also points out, it is one of the most competitive sub-specialties out there. It is not atypical for someone to take time off to do research during their general surgery residency to improve their chances of matching into a pediatric surgery fellowship. Thus, it is certainly not unheard of for people to do 8-9 years of post-medical school training. It is a very long road.

Keep in mind that you have no idea what pediatric surgery actually is. That is normal. Even third year medical students rarely know/understand sub-specialty services to make an informed decision about career choice. What you are interested in may change. Or, maybe it won't. The main thing is to keep an open mind.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Moving to hSDN as OP is in high school