- Joined
- Dec 1, 2001
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In advance, I apologize for posting twice -- just thought after I posted to "New found respect for surgery" that this topic may have warranted a new post altogether.....
"You all sacrifice your own lives for the field and for the benefit of others... you really save lives and help people."
People complain and moan about the attitude surgeons have vis a vis other specialties. No offense, but I think it is statements like these that fuel the fire, so to speak.
I highlight this quote not to criticize but to make sure we put this "new found" respect into proper focus.
I could never be a radiologist, but I have the utmost respect for radiologists. A radiologist's read of a film has altered my treatment plan on more than one occasion, usually to the advantage of my patient. I had a very difficult time choosing between a medicine subspecialty (I plan to do Cards) and surgery -- a VERY tough time. And I hold my surgical colleagues in nothing but the HIGHEST regard. When I was a medical student at Louisville (which as droliver or others on this board will tell you is a VERY surgically run/oriented place) on my senior Honors Surgery rotation, I did another month of Trauma (after q2 call as a third year student on my first surgery month )and saw radiologists coil and clot off arteries to keep patients from the OR or to make the field less of a blood bath when the surgeons opened. Who had "more" of a role in saving a patient's life here? I think this is much more subtle a point than people realize.
When I did my psych rotation and saw some of the "interventions" by psychiatrists in severely ill patients that made them functional members of society -- that was pretty freakin amazing. Is this psychiatric "intervention" any more amazing or profound as repair of a AAA? Some probably would say yes, others, no.
My point here is that when someone singles out one field in medicine as "being truly special" or requiring some sort of supra-human effort compared to others, it not only engenders animosity between fields, but perpetuates this dumb hierarchy that makes people think that those who are AOA and go into FP instead of ENT are "not exploring their full potential".
I think this link was posted here before, but I think it's really interesting.
<a href="http://www.ctsnet.org/doc/6529" target="_blank">http://www.ctsnet.org/doc/6529</a>
Here is a TCVS program director giving what I think is a fairly balanced and realistic view of the evolution of medicine (he uses the discplines of Cardiology and TCVS to make his point). But I think one point to take from his opinion is to say that ALL fields, medical or surgical or the fields that don't clearly fall into either category have people who make a difference in the very life or death of a patient.
All fields have their role, and none of us could do the right thing for our patient's without the help of others.
I will probably get flamed for this, but it's just my humble two cents.
"You all sacrifice your own lives for the field and for the benefit of others... you really save lives and help people."
People complain and moan about the attitude surgeons have vis a vis other specialties. No offense, but I think it is statements like these that fuel the fire, so to speak.
I highlight this quote not to criticize but to make sure we put this "new found" respect into proper focus.
I could never be a radiologist, but I have the utmost respect for radiologists. A radiologist's read of a film has altered my treatment plan on more than one occasion, usually to the advantage of my patient. I had a very difficult time choosing between a medicine subspecialty (I plan to do Cards) and surgery -- a VERY tough time. And I hold my surgical colleagues in nothing but the HIGHEST regard. When I was a medical student at Louisville (which as droliver or others on this board will tell you is a VERY surgically run/oriented place) on my senior Honors Surgery rotation, I did another month of Trauma (after q2 call as a third year student on my first surgery month )and saw radiologists coil and clot off arteries to keep patients from the OR or to make the field less of a blood bath when the surgeons opened. Who had "more" of a role in saving a patient's life here? I think this is much more subtle a point than people realize.
When I did my psych rotation and saw some of the "interventions" by psychiatrists in severely ill patients that made them functional members of society -- that was pretty freakin amazing. Is this psychiatric "intervention" any more amazing or profound as repair of a AAA? Some probably would say yes, others, no.
My point here is that when someone singles out one field in medicine as "being truly special" or requiring some sort of supra-human effort compared to others, it not only engenders animosity between fields, but perpetuates this dumb hierarchy that makes people think that those who are AOA and go into FP instead of ENT are "not exploring their full potential".
I think this link was posted here before, but I think it's really interesting.
<a href="http://www.ctsnet.org/doc/6529" target="_blank">http://www.ctsnet.org/doc/6529</a>
Here is a TCVS program director giving what I think is a fairly balanced and realistic view of the evolution of medicine (he uses the discplines of Cardiology and TCVS to make his point). But I think one point to take from his opinion is to say that ALL fields, medical or surgical or the fields that don't clearly fall into either category have people who make a difference in the very life or death of a patient.
All fields have their role, and none of us could do the right thing for our patient's without the help of others.
I will probably get flamed for this, but it's just my humble two cents.
