Non-Surgery "Hands-On" specialties

[surftheiop]

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I know its way to early to give serious thought to this seeing as Im only an undergrad, but was something I was wondering abuot.

I was curious what were the most "hands-on" non-surgery specialties, where you work alot with your hands and not just with your mind. (Ie I would consider psychiatry or Diagnostic Rads to be the ultimate in "hands off" specialties).

Off the top of my head I thought:

Interventional Rads (I guess this is toeing the surgery line)
Anethesiology
Neurology (doing lumbars and the such)
Internal Medicine
Emergency Medicine
Ob/gyn - but I have no interest in delivering babies for a career.

Was wondering what you all thought were some of the the most hands on non-surgical specialties.

 

[NickNaylor]

What do you mean by "hands on?" Actually touching patients, or just dealing directly with patients?

Derm and GP come to mind for me.

 

[drizzt3117]

Most diagnostic radiologists still do a decent amount of procedures each day.

I know its way to early to give serious thought to this seeing as Im only an undergrad, but was something I was wondering abuot.

I was curious what were the most "hands-on" non-surgery specialties, where you work alot with your hands and not just with your mind. (Ie I would consider psychiatry or Diagnostic Rads to be the ultimate in "hands off" specialties).

Off the top of my head I thought:

Interventional Rads (I guess this is toeing the surgery line)
Anethesiology
Neurology (doing lumbars and the such)
Internal Medicine
Emergency Medicine
Ob/gyn - but I have no interest in delivering babies for a career.

Was wondering what you all thought were some of the the most hands on non-surgical specialties.

 

[surftheiop]

What do you mean by "hands on?" Actually touching patients, or just dealing directly with patients?

Derm and GP come to mind for me.

I guess i worded it slightly badly, talking about where you have to do dexterious (i cant spell) things a fair amount, I wouldnt really consider giving a physical to be in this category (I worded it badly at first).

 

[pntgrd]

I know its way to early to give serious thought to this seeing as Im only an undergrad, but was something I was wondering abuot.

I was curious what were the most "hands-on" non-surgery specialties, where you work alot with your hands and not just with your mind. (Ie I would consider psychiatry or Diagnostic Rads to be the ultimate in "hands off" specialties).

Off the top of my head I thought:

Interventional Rads (I guess this is toeing the surgery line)
Anethesiology
Neurology (doing lumbars and the such)
Internal Medicine
Emergency Medicine
Ob/gyn - but I have no interest in delivering babies for a career.

Was wondering what you all thought were some of the the most hands on non-surgical specialties.

Your list covers it mostly. OB/GYN is usually considered a surgical specialty. I would include dermatology and family medicine. Family medicine does a lot of stuff, from joint injections up to delivering babies in some areas.

 

[Mistress S]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by hands on but not surgical- do you mean procedures? You will perform physical examinations of patients in most fields, but if you want to do some kind of physical but non-surgical intervention that is another story. OB/GYN is considered a surgical specialty and you will spend a lot of time in the OR at least during residency in this field. PM&R is pretty "hands on" but not surgical, so you might consider that. EM docs do some procedures (lines, intubations, etc). Internal medicine is generally not very "hands on" although there are IM subspecialties (like GI) that are more procedure intensive- you will know better during your clinical years if you like doing procedures. Those same subspecialty options are available for peds, as well as neonatology which has a moderate amount of procedures (like any critical care). Neurology is not very hands on either.

 

[surftheiop]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by hands on but not surgical- do you mean procedures? You will perform physical examinations of patients in most fields, but if you want to do some kind of physical but non-surgical intervention that is another story. OB/GYN is considered a surgical specialty and you will spend a lot of time in the OR at least during residency in this field. PM&R is pretty "hands on" but not surgical, so you might consider that. EM docs do some procedures (lines, intubations, etc). Internal medicine is generally not very "hands on" although there are IM subspecialties (like GI) that are more procedure intensive- you will know better during your clinical years if you like doing procedures. Those same subspecialty options are available for peds, as well as neonatology which has a moderate amount of procedures (like any critical care). Neurology is not very hands on either.

I guess by hands on and not surgical I meant fields that dont have to do a general surgery residency (ive been playing soccer all day and am out of shape so everything is jumbled up in my mind and im not communicating well lol)

 

[StPlayrXtreme]

what about radiology?

 

[spyderracing32]

Having worked as a tech in a gastroenterology clinic I can tell you that as a GI doc your week will be split pretty much 50/50 between office visit days and procedure days. You'll get some variety in procedures, but as a general rule you'd be doing a lot of gastroscopies and colonoscopies. I asked one of the doctors I worked with why he went into the field, and he told me that he had been a surgery resident but didn't enjoy the lifestyle, and gastroenterology was the closest thing to surgery (given the frequency of procedures) in medicine. A lot of people don't think about the field because of the nature job (butts and guts!), but it's really interesting and I'd recommend giving it at least a glance.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

What you really need to consider if not just who learns procedures but who actually does them.

FM/IM are technically going to be expected to have some procedural knowledge but in practice most will do very little. If you're in a community hospital working as a hospitalist and a patient is tough IV access rare will be the IM doc who will gown and and place a central line -- more likely the patient will go to IR. Now during their residency that IM person may have learned to place lines under supervision but that doesn't mean that they will have a career as a proceduralist.

I don't know if attending neurologists do many LPs. I kind of doubt it.

EM will have plenty of procedures and a wide variety in almost any practice setting, from the most difficult (central line, intubation) to the simplest (laceration repair, opening abscesses). Keep in mind thought that in a busy community ED w/o residents many attendings view minor procedures (lacs) as annoyances that slow them down. That said much of EM is more like internal medicine in terms of thinking rather than doing. Even as a resident I have gone for periods of 4-5 shifts without ever even doing a simple procedure like a blood gas.

The ultimate procedural specialty (which is non-surgical) is anesthesia. This is the only non-surgical field in which you will do procedures every single day.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Well you could be an intensivist in IM and work in the ICU. Emergency Med has a lot of procedures like central lines, LPs, intubations, etc. But obviously the more procedure based subspecialties in IM would be GI or Interventional Cardiology. Derm has a lot of procedures but is probably the most competitive of all of the residencies to get into. Radiology is also pretty heavy on the procedures if you do intervention. Also very high on the competitive scale.

 

[cpants]

Do you not want to do any surgery? Urology is very procedure intensive as well, but most do operations.

 

[justpremed]

urology
cardiology

 

[shnuffles]

I agree with everyone else. I haven't shadowed any neurologists, but from what I hear, that's really a "thinking" (as opposed to "doing") specialty. If that's the case, I'd take it off your list...

 

[surftheiop]

Do you not want to do any surgery? Urology is very procedure intensive as well, but most do operations.

I dont want to go through the residencies associated with a surgical specialty (id like to be married by that time in my life and the divorce rate in surgical residencies is off the charts)

 

[Lukkie]

proctology but that's more "hands-in"

n/m its surgery

 

[RoyBasch]

The ultimate procedural specialty (which is non-surgical) is anesthesia. This is the only non-surgical field in which you will do procedures every single day.

What kind of procedures does Gas do?

-Roy

 

[Pedsbro]

What kind of procedures does Gas do?

-Roy

Intubation, for one..

 

[surftheiop]

What kind of procedures does Gas do?

-Roy

just general anethesia is a procedure in itself isnt it ?

or stuff like this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_block

 

[cpants]

I agree with everyone else. I haven't shadowed any neurologists, but from what I hear, that's really a "thinking" (as opposed to "doing") specialty. If that's the case, I'd take it off your list...

Just a tip. I would get out of the habit of dividing specialties into "thinking" and "doing" categories right now. All specialties are thinking specialties. Some involve more procedures. None involve less thinking. Let a surgical attending hear you say something like that and you'll be put in your place real quick.

 

[MrBurns10]

What kind of procedures does Gas do?

-Roy

let's see...intubations, arterial lines, spinals, epidurals, nerve blocks (with ultrasound), IVs, swan-ganz catheters...

i.e. many

 

[Pinkertinkle]

dont forget gastroenterology and various procedural cardiology subspecialties

 

[BigRedBeta]

Again to reiterate Critical Care (ICU) - they'll do a lot of lines, intubations, swan-ganz's, ECMO, etc. On the adult side, it's a little bit of a turf war with the Anesthesia folks and will depend on where you're practicing. For Pediatrics - both PICU and NICU - the intensivists do most of it on their own, and I've seen instances where the anesthesiologists called the pediatric intensivist to assist with an intubation of a kid.