Surgery Prelim

[ghgi8]

Hi,

I see that this has been discussed previously but I was hoping for some more in-depth advice. Due to personal circumstances, it seems as though my intern year will be taking me to a specific city, at which there exists only one medicine and one surgery preliminary program. I know that the quality of my experience in either path (i.e. balance of scut vs. learning opportunities) will ultimately be more dependent on intrinsic factors to the program rather than the field I ultimately choose....

I am basically looking for a year that will best prepare me to care for my future patients, regardless of the amount of work involved. The impression that I have is that the surgery year may carry a bit longer hours and more work than the medicine year. I interviewed at the surgery program today and was surprised by the friendliness of the faculty whom I met. There seems to be ample opportunity to get in the OR and observe cases and there is a lot of time spent on surgical subspecialty services.

I was wondering if anyone out there in radonc cyberspace can comment on their own personal experiences with the medicine/surgery internship, how they think the route chosen has more appropriately prepared them for radiation oncology, and if they think the alternative could have prepped them better. Will a surgical prelim weaken me in any way?

I appreciate any information you can offer...

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[IndyXRT]

I did a preliminary medicine year, not because I thought I would be better trained, but because I had to scramble for a 1st year spot (I applied to too few TY programs). I do not believe that a year in surgery will leave you poorly trained. I think that the first year experience is mostly about getting used to managing general patient issues, which you will learn in IM, surgery, or TY. In fact, we had one resident who did his internship in pediatrics. He still did fine in residency, despite the fact that the vast majority of his patients were not children. As long as the program doesn't seem malignant, I don't think it matters much what type of 1st year you choose.

 

[ghgi8]

Thanks for your response...So it looks like I will most likely be spending next year with the surgeons. Any comments/concerns?