Prelim-Surg

[Cristagali]

---

Members do not see this ad.

What are the duties of a prelim-surg resident, who will NOT go surg in PGY-2 (like a transitional year)? 😕 Are they expected to go to the OR? NOt that that is bad, but I just don't have the experience for OR. SICU I can handle. thanks.

 

[Pilot Doc]

What are the duties of a prelim-surg resident, who will NOT go surg in PGY-2 (like a transitional year)? 😕 Are they expected to go to the OR? NOt that that is bad, but I just don't have the experience for OR. SICU I can handle. thanks.

It varies widely by program. Some places you'll never see the OR; some places you'll become an expert at retracting and driving camera; some places - if you wish - you should become competent at minor general surgery OR's.

What do you mean by "experience." If you mean ability, you can learn. If you mean the stomach/stamina for operating, that's another matter.

 

[doc05]

"experience?" no pgy-1 has experience. as pilot doc says, you will learn. frankly, I'd be more afraid of a pgy-1 handling sicu on their own.

as a prelim, you will be a scut monkey extraordinaire. lots of floor work, some time in the OR (retracting, minor cases), but not much. same as a categorical pgy-1 but with less OR time and less respect.

 

[Tristero]

hey doc05, i just wanted to apologize. i know you probably don't care, but even though you were a dick to that guy who cheated...you give great advice and are an asset to this forum. thanks.

 

[Celiac Plexus]

What are the duties of a prelim-surg resident, who will NOT go surg in PGY-2 (like a transitional year)? 😕 Are they expected to go to the OR? NOt that that is bad, but I just don't have the experience for OR. SICU I can handle. thanks.

you will learn how to handle floor surgical patients, and do a lot of paperwork/scut.

generally no one is going to roll the red carpet out for you to come to the OR. if you don't want to go to the OR (which begs the question of why do a surgical prelim), then you could probably get by all year with minimal visits tot he or. one of the prelims at my program my intern year was regarded as one of the best interns and she hardly ever went to the or, and never placed a line. that said, if you WANT to go to the or, you can weasel your way in to all manner of cases, and do much more than just retract and drive a camera.

basically a surgical intern (categorical or prelim) is a little scut biotch. however, if you excel at doing scut, and show up on time every day with a smile on your face, and don't complain within earshot of your colleagues, you will be viewed as a wonderful intern. categorical interns probably do get treated a little better than prelims but that has as much to do with attitudes of residents as it does with some of the prelim interns. we had a prelim going in to anesthesia, and she was a really cool woman, but a total slacker. she got by on charm for the first half of the year before the residents realized her slackerness and basically gave up on her. (it really sucks when a chief on another service calls you to do scut on his service because he doesn't trust the intern he has...)

best of luck.

 

[Bo Hurley]

Why would anybody do a surgical prelim year if they are not interested in surgery? There's no point. Unless you are a glutton for punishment.

Do a medical prelim instead.

 

[Cristagali]

Several EM programs are of the 4 year type requiring a preliminary or transitional year. If I do em residency or FM residency with an emphasis on urgent care, I thought a Surg -prelim year would be great preparation. I would like to learn to put in central lines, art lines, venous cut down, crico's, ATLS, chest tube placement, suturing techniques, etc, etc....Sorry I should have been more clear. But your post were helpful, thank you.

 

[doc05]

Several EM programs are of the 4 year type requiring a preliminary or transitional year. If I do em residency or FM residency with an emphasis on urgent care, I thought a Surg -prelim year would be great preparation. I would like to learn to put in central lines, art lines, venous cut down, crico's, ATLS, chest tube placement, suturing techniques, etc, etc....Sorry I should have been more clear. But your post were helpful, thank you.

that still doesn't make any sense. you'll learn everything you really need to know during EM residency. why go through all the unnecessary torture?

 

[GucciMD]

I would only consider Prelim. Surgery if I wanted to do Surgery, Surgery Speciality, EM, or Anesth.

I would not do a year of surgery to get into Family Practice.

Surgery is still the most difficult residency and I can't see why someone would want to bother unless they really love surgery. Even people doing Anesth. prefer to do Internal Medicine Prelim.

Good Luck

 

[Cristagali]

IF I HAD to do a prelim year before going EM (4 year program), then probably surg wouldn't be a bad choice. Obviously if I do a 3 year EM program, there is no transitional year, and prelim year becomes moot point. Hopefully that explains better. Thanks 😀

 

[Pilot Doc]

Several EM programs are of the 4 year type requiring a preliminary or transitional year. If I do em residency or FM residency with an emphasis on urgent care, I thought a Surg -prelim year would be great preparation. I would like to learn to put in central lines, art lines, venous cut down, crico's, ATLS, chest tube placement, suturing techniques, etc, etc....Sorry I should have been more clear. But your post were helpful, thank you.

If you're doing urgent care, one simple procedure treats every surgical emergency: call 911. I would not spend an extra year in training for that.

The EM transitional year makes a fair amount of sense, though. Look for a program at a well-run community hospital where the interns opertate all day long on small cases. Try to find a program that assigns interns directly to attendings, or maybe a single chief resident. If you end up on a trauma servicce with 5 residents, your procedural experience will be very limited.