Surgery in Ophthalmology

[MonsterAddict]

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I have had very little exposure to ophthalmology so far but I was wondering what the atmosphere is in the surgical setting. I have seen how it is in general surgery and I personally do not want to get treated that way for 5 years. Is it more relaxed? I know this is speaking in general and each program is different. If so, what programs are not malignant? I don't mind working hard, but I don't want my attending throwing objects around the room. Thanks

 

[OPPforlife]

4th year student here who has matched in to ophtho. I can tell you from what I have seen as a medical student the atmosphere in ophthalmology is verrrry different. Ophthalmologists as a group are generally cool personable people and mostly treat people with respect including patients, staff, residents, fellows and students. In fact I think in terms of the residency match personability(if that is a word) is actually an extremely sought after trait in applicants. After all there is a reason why we all chose this awesome specialty.

 

[ophthope]

4th year student here who has matched in to ophtho. I can tell you from what I have seen as a medical student the atmosphere in ophthalmology is verrrry different. Ophthalmologists as a group are generally cool personable people and mostly treat people with respect including patients, staff, residents, fellows and students. In fact I think in terms of the residency match personability(if that is a word) is actually an extremely sought after trait in applicants. After all there is a reason why we all chose this awesome specialty.

Agree with all of the above. Every residency touted their 'collegial atomopshere' and it really seems to be true. People in Ophthalmology tend to be easy to be around, not harsh. Even in serious teaching moments the Ophthalmologists are all nice people. The harshest I have seen an attending get is what I would maybe call "stern" when talking to a resident about something they needed to learn. And by stern I mean 'serious tone,' not yelling or screaming or hurling personal insults.

Surgery seems to be similar. Obviously in microsurgery inside of the eye there are some tense moments but keep in mind that in Ophthalmology the patient is usually awake. So even if there was a jackass of an attending (which there almost never is) they couldn't yell at you without possibly upsetting the patient very much.

 

[kwel]

Agree with all of the above. Every residency touted their 'collegial atomopshere' and it really seems to be true. People in Ophthalmology tend to be easy to be around, not harsh. Even in serious teaching moments the Ophthalmologists are all nice people. The harshest I have seen an attending get is what I would maybe call "stern" when talking to a resident about something they needed to learn. And by stern I mean 'serious tone,' not yelling or screaming or hurling personal insults.

Surgery seems to be similar. Obviously in microsurgery inside of the eye there are some tense moments but keep in mind that in Ophthalmology the patient is usually awake. So even if there was a jackass of an attending (which there almost never is) they couldn't yell at you without possibly upsetting the patient very much.

This is exactly what I've noticed as well. The ophtho residents and attendings are some of the nicest I've met in 3rd year and spend lots of time with you. They are much more like medicine residents than surgery residents in that sense

 

[RestoreSight]

This is exactly what I've noticed as well. The ophtho residents and attendings are some of the nicest I've met in 3rd year and spend lots of time with you. They are much more like medicine residents than surgery residents in that sense

I would hope I treat my med students better than medicine residents. No long rounds, no pimping, no 30 second pressure-filled presentations, and NO DREs. Ophtho is in a world of it's own

 

[DrZeke]

I agree with all of the above. However, my school's surgery program tho "harsh" compared to ophtho doesn't involve the attendings throwing things or yelling. There is the occasional attending that tends to be more severe when teaching, but I've heard of some similar characters within ophthalmology when operating. I think the patients being awake make it difficult for the attending to go all out if frustrated...

I think a lot of it depends on your program and your personality. General surgery tends to be cut and dry and I don't get the sense that there is as much interest or care for the chronic issues within medicine. While most ophthalmologists are probably happy to not have to manage things like DM and HTN, they still deal with them on a regular basis within the eye and are sensitive to what that means for the patient.

I'm just speaking from the perspective of someone who has always like general surgery, just not always been so crazy about the lack of interest in the patient's care and well-being aside from the surgery.

 

[vbala]

can anybody tell me whether ophthalmology microsurgery are difficult to perform compared to general surgery...are micro surgeries tougher to do than general surgery....if so wat r d difficulties....

 

[OphthoQuestions]

can anybody tell me whether ophthalmology microsurgery are difficult to perform compared to general surgery...are micro surgeries tougher to do than general surgery....if so wat r d difficulties....

Any skill, whether it be golf or surgery, can be learned with enough guidance and practice. If you do 1000 cataract surgeries, you are bound to be decent at them, as long as you have the proper supervision. Just like you would be good at appendectomies if you did 1000 of them under the right guidance.

I think that "microsurgery" is no harder than general surgery, but it does entail a different skill set. I think one of the best parts of eye surgery is that, for the most part, our surgeries are efficient and "clean." We aren't digging around in someone's adipose tissue or fascia or dealing with bleeders 🙂