sitting surgical procedural specialty

[jkkkkkk]

Hello folks,I need some help in finding out on surgical specialities or procedural specialities that do not require extensive standing.I always wanted to be a surgeon since entering medical school but hurted my back from an accident during medical school.I still want to pursue a surgical specialty but knowing that most require long periods of standing (which I cannot do for more than ~2 hrs), what are some options besides giving up on surgical specialty?

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[armybound]

One option would be to have your back fixed.

Another would be to find a specialty that's heavy in robotics, like urology. I'd imagine ophtho and hand surgery can also sit quite a bit.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

Do GI or cardiology. At least during training, there is no surgical speciality you can do without standing for long periods of time. If two hours is your max then you're out of luck.

 

[lura]

There is no way you will be able to do general surgery, urology, ENT, neurosurgery or orthopedics without having to do hundreds of cases that exceed 2 hours during residency. So forget those areas and any/all of their respective fellowships. You can not do Hand Surgery where you can sit down all day (or most of the time) without doing either Gen Surg or Ortho, for example.

Optho might be a real possibiity.

Have you considered radiology - I notice they tend to be sitting most of the day!

 

[Winged Scapula]

I am unwilling to say "no way". After all, we have an SDN user who's a paraplegic in a wheelchair doing a general surgery residency. It requires an adaptive device which may not be available to someone without an ADA disability.

 

[lura]

I am unwilling to say "no way". After all, we have an SDN user who's a paraplegic in a wheelchair doing a general surgery residency. It requires an adaptive device which may not be available to someone without an ADA disability.

Very true - didn't think of that. I should have phrased it more like, it will be very very difficult without the caveat of having your ailment labeled as a disability. Even though this is in no way legal, I do suspect some residency programs would be a little gun-shy about matching a candidate with this type of problem unless it was clearly deemed an offical ADA disability.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Very true - didn't think of that. I should have phrased it more like, it will be very very difficult without the caveat of having your ailment labeled as a disability. Even though this is in no way legal, I do suspect some residency programs would be a little gun-shy about matching a candidate with this type of problem unless it was clearly deemed an offical ADA disability.

Totally agree.

The OP is probably between a rock and a hard place, eh? Too much pain for longer cases, too little disability to be offered accomodations.

 

[Kahreek]

do some core strength exercises, who knows, having a healthy spinal erector can correct some of that pain or even a kidney belt might work.
If the pain is unbearable, it is not worth it, and i guess sitting can also not be a viable option, as you are not, lets say, on a recumbent chair, but more a high stool.

 

[armybound]

Not sure how much I agree.

For uro and robotics...what about cases where you have to convert to open (2.5-15% depending on which series you read)? Then you are talking a long ( Ie greater than 2 hrs) and difficult open operation.

For hand... You've got to make it through an ortho (definitely hard on the back)...or plastics (lots of long cases) residency.

Not to mention rounds....

I mean I don't think someone who can't stand up for long should consider any surgical specialty at all... just giving opinions on those that might be best for that situation.

 

[drdolot]

Hello folks,I need some help in finding out on surgical specialities or procedural specialities that do not require extensive standing.I always wanted to be a surgeon since entering medical school but hurted my back from an accident during medical school.I still want to pursue a surgical specialty but knowing that most require long periods of standing (which I cannot do for more than ~2 hrs), what are some options besides giving up on surgical specialty?

Optho with an oculoplastic fellowship... most surgeries we did we were sitting down.

 

[MR1]

Ophthalmology sits for all their surgeries except some oculoplastics folks.

 

[Bostonredsox]

Do GI or cardiology. At least during training, there is no surgical speciality you can do without standing for long periods of time. If two hours is your max then you're out of luck.

Youve clearly have never spent 2 and a half hours in a STEMI trying to get wires across and then stent totally FUBARd coronary's.

And we dont spend 2+ hours standing all that frequently compared with you guys, but the typical IM resident spends a lot of hours on their feet.

I agree with Winged. If your back is that bad, go rads or pathology. Sit all day and look at films or analzye slides. Get paid well too.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

Youve clearly have never spent 2 and a half hours in a STEMI trying to get wires across and then stent totally FUBARd coronary's.

And we dont spend 2+ hours standing all that frequently compared with you guys, but the typical IM resident spends a lot of hours on their feet.

I agree with Winged. If your back is that bad, go rads or pathology. Sit all day and look at films or analzye slides. Get paid well too.

Well I'm not a cardiologist. So no I haven't. But I didn't realize all cardiologists were interventional.

I know IM residents stand. But I've seen IM residents in wheelchairs too. So it's doable.

 

[poorracerkid]

Do psych. Problem-focused and you have to sit down unless you're being attacked!

 

[ruralsurg4now]

Youve clearly have never spent 2 and a half hours in a STEMI trying to get wires across and then stent totally FUBARd coronary's.

Radiation exposure FTW!