Question for Surgical Residents

[jlinn01]

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I'm a first year who's interested in a whole host of possible career choices, but i have a question about one in particular. About a month ago, a panel of surgeons came in to talk about their work and training. I had to leave early, but afterward, all of the gunners in the class were running around, scrambling for research opportunities for the summer after first year. They claimed that doing research in this time was absolutely essential to anyone who wants to apply for a surgical residency. Now, I"m not set on anything yet, but is this true? If I don't do research this summer, is there any hope for me? (please note a bit of sarcasm here, but seriously, how important is research in the first/second year of school?

thanks

 

[Goofy]

Originally posted by jlinn01:
•I'm a first year who's interested in a whole host of possible career choices, but i have a question about one in particular. About a month ago, a panel of surgeons came in to talk about their work and training. I had to leave early, but afterward, all of the gunners in the class were running around, scrambling for research opportunities for the summer after first year. They claimed that doing research in this time was absolutely essential to anyone who wants to apply for a surgical residency. Now, I"m not set on anything yet, but is this true? If I don't do research this summer, is there any hope for me? (please note a bit of sarcasm here, but seriously, how important is research in the first/second year of school?

thanks•••

I'm not a surgical resident, but I don't think this question needs one. Surgery is very very easy to enter right now. The rigorous training and lifestyle coupled with declining compensation have caused it's popularity to decline dramatically.

Let the gunners drive themselves nuts with research. Enjoy your life, it's too short. The good news is your field of interest is very very easy to enter, even top programs. Having said that, your only a first year, so your interests are likely to change at least 100 times. Good luck, and don't let the gunner's make your life a living hell.

 

[droliver]

jlin01,

Klebsiella is a little off the mark there. While general surgery as a whole is easier for people to match in than in the past, the competition for spots at the major academic centers is fierce. Reasearch with publications is a way to signifigantly enhance how competative you are for these positions both for general surgery & later for fellowship training.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

My roommate is currently applying and interviewing at general surgery programs. He did not do research at all in his med school, but did have a MS degree prior to med school. He has pretty good boards and average to above average grades. He has gotten interviews at many of the top programs, including UCSF, UCLA, Washington University, and others. So I don't think that in the current environment having no surgical research hurts your chances that much, even at top programs.

 

[fourthyr]

Could someone stereotype general surgery subspecialty personalities? ie what's a vascular guy like, what's a ct guy like, what's a...and so on.

 

[tussy]

Research isn't essential, but it does help. It really doesn't matter what field you do it in. I didn't decide that i wanted to be a surgeon until i was in my third year. I did however do a research project in my first year. The topic was unrelated to surgery, but the fact that i did research and had a publication was well recieved in my general surgery interviews.

 

[MD Dreams]

I believe general surgery is getting easier to match into. However, let us not forget other surgical specialties, such as neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery which have their own programs. From what I understand ortho is extremely difficult to match into right now and neuro is always challenging. Furthermore, general may be easy now, but what about a few years down the line when the tides shift again.

For some surgical specialties, such as neuro, I believe it is vital to have research and/or publications. If I were you I would go ahead and do research. After all, the only thing that you might loose out on is one summer of your life. It really cannot hurt. Then, if you do decide to go into surgery, you have an advantage.

I'm not in med school yet, so I can't speak with complete authority. However, I see that gunners get dogged a lot. Perhaps, this is justified for those gunners that sabatoge others for their own gain. But I think that one can be a gunner and be a team player as well. To me, a gunner is someone who has high ambitions and is willing to make the committment to reach them. After all, when one of your loved ones has a brain tumor, or a herniated disk, or needs an emergant reapir of the aorta, who are you gonna look towards. Probably one of those gunners who busted his/her butt to make it into a surgical specialty and who has sacrificed youth, family, free time, and a normal life to be cutting on dear old grandpa Joe 3 AM in the morning. Again, forgive me if I'm being premature in my opinions, but I think it is commendable to see people with so much dedication.

Just my 2 cents.

Peace.

 

[GTMD2Bee]

For the first comment: I don't know how much research matters once in med school. I did some research as an undergrad and it was published in Lancet, and I have had no problems come up with getting interviews. But as others said, surgery is less competitive right now, and who knows how the tide will change.

For MD Dreams, as far as being a gunner: There is a reason gunners aren't well received. I don't consider a gunner someone who just works hard and sacrifices time in the pursuit of a goal. That's a better description of a good medical student. Gunners in my school are people that go out of there way to make themselves look special usually at the expense of others. Gunners consistently kiss butt and do certain things to make themselves look good when certain people (attendings, chief residents, etc...). They're not doing it to learn, they're just doing it to look good, and perhaps some can justify that. I personally find it to be a major pain in the a**!

 

[Jamier2]

Originally posted by fourthyr:
•Could someone stereotype general surgery subspecialty personalities? ie what's a vascular guy like, what's a ct guy like, what's a...and so on.•••

SDN already has this. 😀 Just click on this <a href="http://www.studentdoctor.net/guide/medstudent/specialties/index.html" target="_blank">link</a>, it takes you to a page which has information about many specialties, including personality profiles.