Surgery anyone??

[MystikBliss]

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Does anyone know where I can find info about surgery? I have a mentor who won't contact me back sooo...
I'm just wandering:
Is it competitive (i know it's no derm but...)
What kind of credentials do you need to obtain a residency
I want to do pediatiric surg but don't want to do the 7 years of res. is there anyway i can avoid 7 years.

Any info is appreciated (and for those of you who like to post sarcastic comments, do it on another thread 😛)

 

[Keg]

With regards to the seven year thing - some programs don't require research, and you probably don't want to do it unless you'd like to specialize and need a fellowship, anyway. So those places (like Wash U) get you done in 5 years.

 

[Hard24Get]

Not planning on Surgery, but I liked my rotation enough to look into it...

Is it competitive (i know it's no derm but...)

It is moderately competitive. here's the data.

What kind of credentials do you need to obtain a residency

😕 Well, graduating from an accredited med school always helps. Above average board scores, generally (US seniors are in the 220s, see the above link). You also need to apply....

I want to do pediatiric surg but don't want to do the 7 years of res. is there anyway i can avoid 7 years.

No. Not that I know of. You can do longer than 7 years if you want, though 😀
Welcome to the sticking point of the legion that were/are interested in Surgery...

Are you a medical student????

P.S. Find a new mentor! 👍

 

[Hard24Get]

With regards to the seven year thing - some programs don't require research, and you probably don't want to do it unless you'd like to specialize and need a fellowship, anyway. So those places (like Wash U) get you done in 5 years.

In Pediatric Surgery? Isn't that a fellowship? Gen surgery=5-7 yrs, + 2yrs of Ped surgery = 7. Are you saying WashU will let you do Gen Surg in 3 yrs? 😕

 

[MystikBliss]

Are you a medical student????

Yea I'm a first year med student trying to remember why I wanted to do this 😀

 

[dpmd]

Pediatric surgery is indeed a fellowship. It is one of the most difficult to get into at this time. It is almost mandatory that you do research in this area prior to applying, and this would mean you would do 5-7 years of general surgery (5 being difficult to do if you want to have any meaningful research done for this particular subspecialty) PLUS 1-2 yrs of fellowship in pediatric surgery.

 

[Guile]

Pedi surg is allegedly the hardest of all fellowships to get into. I've heard 2 years of research is a virtually a requirement to even apply. So you're looking at 5 + 2 + 2/3 = 9/10 to be a pediatric surgeon.

I think Keg was referring to the fact that WashU doesn't require research for just gen surg, as opposed to some programs which do (UVA, for example).

 

[Smurfette]

FYI, Pediatric Surgery fellowships are EXCEEDINGLY COMPETITIVE. There are only 20-25 spots total per year, and I am not exaggerating. Basically, if you don't do at least two years of research during residency (meaning total 7 years of residency minimum), you have almost zero chance of success....and even if you DO have 2 yrs research, the odds are still very against you unless you have fantastic connections and a fantastic CV.

 

[Blade28]

Nothing much to add here that hasn't already been said. Peds Surg is the hardest surgical fellowship to get into - we have a program here, and the applicants are always ridiculously well-qualified.

 

[deuist]

Two quick resources on the web are Careers in Medicine (login required from your school) and Residency Web. Simply pick a specialty and go to town.

 

[MystikBliss]

welp...guys thanx for your help, looks like that whole ped surgery thing isn't going to be working out for me...soooooo...yea it was a good run😎

 

[jdh71]

welp...guys thanx for your help, looks like that whole ped surgery thing isn't going to be working out for me...soooooo...yea it was good run😎

why not?

 

[MystikBliss]

why not?

because I'm a first year student trying my hardest to get B's in my classes so I don't look stupid. I'm gonna guess that I'll do average on the boards so I'm keeping it real and looking for a career that I think I can obtain. Plus there's no way I'm going to be making a resident's salary for 10 years. I actually want to be able to...I dunno...pay for gas and my apartment and maybeeee be able to feed any kids I have...😍

 

[jdh71]

because I'm a first year student trying my hardest to get B's in my classes so I don't look stupid. I'm gonna guess that I'll do average on the boards so I'm keeping it real and looking for a career that I think I can obtain. Plus there's no way I'm going to be making a resident's salary for 10 years. I actually want to be able to...I dunno...pay for gas and my apartment and maybeeee be able to feed any kids I have...😍

Those are all factors to take into consideration. You still have a long time left. Matching a general surgery spot will not be that difficult, from there there are all kinds of ways to beef up selling points, including research and perhaps even doing a chief resident spot for a year. It's not over till it over, but I can understand your POV

 

[deuist]

Surgery is intermediate in difficulty, which means that you need to be intermediately competitive: middle of your class or higher, score around a 220 on Step I, do well in 3rd year and manage not to piss off your attendings. So long as B's are considered good at your school, you should be fine. Maybe get in some research with a summer publication and you'll be golden. Your statement that you can't get into a surg residency sounds more like an excuse than a prediction. And while no one is extremely fond of residency, you aren't going to starve on $40,000 a year.

 

[MystikBliss]

Your statement that you can't get into a surg residency sounds more like an excuse than a prediction.

Just for clarification, I'm still going to try to do the surgery thing, I'm just not to sure about ped surg (i'm just going to see how this whole med school thing pans out)

 

[LJDHC05]

I was also looking into peds surgery a few months ago. There are a whopping 26 fellowship slots every year and approximately 60 applicants per year...good luck with that one.

As far as residency salaries go, depending on where you're living they can go as high as 60k by 5th year and generally they are on an increasing scale based on year.

As stated above, you'd have to do a 5 year general surgery residency and then run your application through FREIDA for your peds fellowship, and then if you match, its a 2 year fellowship. PM me if you have any questions about it.

 

[pagemmapants]

Or you could start out at the Duke Gensurg Residency and do 7 years of that, THEN maybe do a little bit of extra research and top it up to 9 to make sure you're *really* competitive, then do the 3 years of fellowship. 12! Assuming you're a traditional straight-out-of-Undergrad student that'll put you at at least 37 before you're actually out of training. Word.

😀

This profession is ridiculous.