SH . I’m falling in love with general surgery.

[sugeny]

I am in such trouble.

I am a fourth year med student, and utterly screwed. Over and over I have heard ‘general surgery is a wasteland, akin to the dark land of Mordor.’ My 3rd year gsurg clerkship was hell, sleeping 4 hours/night, but I still loved it. I’m on my gsurg sub-I right now, working 14 hrs/day, exhausted, yet still drawn to the specialty. The constant intensity pumps me up, I love following patients’ diseases, I light up when I’m in the OR.

My main problem with general surgery? I want to have a life outside of work. I am a super active, young, single girl. I have to exercise everyday. I absolutely require frequent snowboarding to survive. I would like to get married some day.

My question – is there any possible way to do general surgery and still date, exercise, and spend time with friends on a regular basis?

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[sugeny]

And...I feel kinda ******ed because I just did a forum search and found plenty of replies about this. Sorry for the 'oft repeated question.'

 

[Winged Scapula]

No worries.

Welcome to a world where no one outside understands why we do this.

 

[Dr.LeoSpaceman]

I am in such trouble.

I am a fourth year med student, and utterly screwed. Over and over I have heard ‘general surgery is a wasteland, akin to the dark land of Mordor.’ My 3rd year gsurg clerkship was hell, sleeping 4 hours/night, but I still loved it. I’m on my gsurg sub-I right now, working 14 hrs/day, exhausted, yet still drawn to the specialty. The constant intensity pumps me up, I love following patients’ diseases, I light up when I’m in the OR.

My main problem with general surgery? I want to have a life outside of work. I am a super active, young, single girl. I have to exercise everyday. I absolutely require frequent snowboarding to survive. I would like to get married some day.

My question – is there any possible way to do general surgery and still date, exercise, and spend time with friends on a regular basis?

Yes, you can do those things. Just be ready to 1) Always be tired and 2) Not do as much of them as you might want to. Just find a program where day trips for snowboarding are possible.

 

[Guile]

Awww, how does it feel about you?

 

[europeman]

this is not true!

please do gen surg!

we need MORE women like you in the field!

i'm a guy, so, take what you want, but.... gen surg is fun. residency at times can be tougher than other fields, but most specialities have pretty tough residencies. what's most tough, however, is doing a field you don't love!

besides, there is SO MUCH variety within general surgery. you can do subspecialities which are more life style friendsly (breat, endocrine, even trauma/critical care/acute care where when you are off you are off) or horrible lifestyle fields (liver transplant in the new york region!).

no matter, though, if you want life OUTSIDE OF WORK, PROMISE you that you will find a way! you really need to find a female surgeon mentor!

i wish you the best of luck!

 

[HNANAL]

don't worry, by the time you become an intern, the only requirement is a 8 hour call day with strategic nap times built in. Perfect for your life outside general surgery.

 

[skiz knot]

don't worry, by the time you become an intern, the only requirement is a 8 hour call day with strategic nap times built in. Perfect for your life outside general surgery.

Interns will not be able to take ANY call, and in fact only attending physicians will not be allowed to carry pagers as they may go off during an interview with a patient, which surveys have shown to be a distraction to residents. You will be required to introduce yourself as "Dr. (insert your first and last name), first year resident physician working under the direct tutelage of (attending physician name) attending physician in (insert super sub-specialized field of medicine here), who recieved his/her training at (insert institution of residency or fellowship training). If it would be acceptable to you, I would like to ask you several questions and perform a physical examination on you after you sign this consent form.

 

[ComfortableWolf]

I think the best piece of advice I have heard about doing gen surg is as follows...

If you love operating more than anything else is the world AND you cannot see yourself doing anything else then do gen surg

BUT
If there is another specialty you think you could enjoy then take a long hard look at that.

Keep in mind that the bread and butter of the "life style" gen surg specialties ( breast, endo) are not the same as what you might be doing now in a gen surg rotation ( although this depend what kind of sub I you are doing).
Also trauma/cc is becoming more and more non-operative and while there are those who love trauma most residents have at least a mild distaste for trauma due to it's non operative nature, unpredictability and. Night shifts.

Not trying to discourage you but in order to be a great or at least competent surgeon you will have to sacrifice a fair amount AND depending on how things go it may take a while for your lifestyle to improve until you are beyond the young attending years.

All that being said... If you LOVE to operate and nothing elde interests you go for it.

 

[sugeny]

Wow, I really really appreciate all of the replies I have gotten so far!

Wolf - I have definitely heard the 'if you are interested in anything besides gsurg, seriously check it out.' I am also considering EM for the more controllable lifestyle (not perfect by any means, but, probably better than gsurg) combined with a wide range of fellowships that all really catch my interest - sports med, peds, international, etc. Doing 4 weeks of EM after my surg sub-I.

Europeman - thanks for the encouragement! I do really need a good female mentor, there are only a few lady surgeons at my med school, and haven't really hit it off with them...

FaytIND - solid suggestion with the 'day trip possible residency location,' that would make it a lot more bearable I think.

Winged Scapula - I am slightly in awe of you, thanks for the welcome!