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- Aug 23, 2006
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Hi there-
I'm categorical general surgery intern, enjoying my first year at a great academic program where I feel very fortunate to have matched. I chose GS because I thought I wanted to do peds surg or maybe peds reconstructive/plastics and gs gave me the most options. However, the week of match last march I rotated in peds ENT and LOVED it, and I'm now doing an ENT rotation as an intern and am regretting not having thought seriously about ENT. To my horror I find myself seriously questioning my field and considering a switch.
I keep trying to envision my life in 10 years, and dont know if I see a general surgeon anymore. My peers are fantastic and program is very resident focused. But I am having a hard time seeing myself as the chiefs of my program and doing what they do, and while I love my faculty, I havent really found a mentor I really identify with at this new institution yet. I am doing a good job so far as an intern and do like what Im doing, but the notion of taking care of gen surg patients for the rest of my life now feels painful to me. Something just feels off, and I thought it was just my new role/hospital/city etc, but maybe its something more...
The idea of taking care of children with craniofacial malformations or tracheomalacia seems so amazing-I love the intricacy, the head/neck anatomy, and the idea of being excellent at solving very specialized clinical problems in children (which now seems so at odds with the reason I chose gen surg !!-the extensive pathophysiology and critically ill patients, the ability to operate all over the body, etc.)
I thought I was a hard core gen surgeon at heart, but now I feel like i identify more with the ent faculty/residents, thier practice, patients, personalities in the program. I know you may all be thinking why didnt I realize this before-I dont know, I guess lack of exposure to the field. But I feel like I dont even know myself anymore and I dont know what to do-what if I'm just tired, havent seen enough of gen surg form my new perspective as a resident, or what if ent isnt for me either?? I was a solid applicant with good stats, but not AOA or 260+++on my boards or anything so I dont even know if I would stand a chance at getting into ENT, much less how I could possibly go about it now (or if thats what I really want...)
So I guess I would appreciate any thoughts on why anyone out there chose ent over general surg or vv, what my options may be if I were to switch, who I could talk to about all this given i dont know anyone outside the gs dept (and they barely know me...), what I should be asking myself before I completely turn my life upsidedown. ANy thoughts would be SO appreciated for a lost intern soul
GB
I'm categorical general surgery intern, enjoying my first year at a great academic program where I feel very fortunate to have matched. I chose GS because I thought I wanted to do peds surg or maybe peds reconstructive/plastics and gs gave me the most options. However, the week of match last march I rotated in peds ENT and LOVED it, and I'm now doing an ENT rotation as an intern and am regretting not having thought seriously about ENT. To my horror I find myself seriously questioning my field and considering a switch.
I keep trying to envision my life in 10 years, and dont know if I see a general surgeon anymore. My peers are fantastic and program is very resident focused. But I am having a hard time seeing myself as the chiefs of my program and doing what they do, and while I love my faculty, I havent really found a mentor I really identify with at this new institution yet. I am doing a good job so far as an intern and do like what Im doing, but the notion of taking care of gen surg patients for the rest of my life now feels painful to me. Something just feels off, and I thought it was just my new role/hospital/city etc, but maybe its something more...
The idea of taking care of children with craniofacial malformations or tracheomalacia seems so amazing-I love the intricacy, the head/neck anatomy, and the idea of being excellent at solving very specialized clinical problems in children (which now seems so at odds with the reason I chose gen surg !!-the extensive pathophysiology and critically ill patients, the ability to operate all over the body, etc.)
I thought I was a hard core gen surgeon at heart, but now I feel like i identify more with the ent faculty/residents, thier practice, patients, personalities in the program. I know you may all be thinking why didnt I realize this before-I dont know, I guess lack of exposure to the field. But I feel like I dont even know myself anymore and I dont know what to do-what if I'm just tired, havent seen enough of gen surg form my new perspective as a resident, or what if ent isnt for me either?? I was a solid applicant with good stats, but not AOA or 260+++on my boards or anything so I dont even know if I would stand a chance at getting into ENT, much less how I could possibly go about it now (or if thats what I really want...)
So I guess I would appreciate any thoughts on why anyone out there chose ent over general surg or vv, what my options may be if I were to switch, who I could talk to about all this given i dont know anyone outside the gs dept (and they barely know me...), what I should be asking myself before I completely turn my life upsidedown. ANy thoughts would be SO appreciated for a lost intern soul
GB