surgery subselective

[anxiousnadd]

Hey everyone,

I'm an upcoming M3 and am seriously looking at EM as a career. At my school, in the 3rd and 4th years, we have 1 required "surgery specialty" in each of those years. In your opinion, which 2 surgery specialties would you recommend me doing to have a better grasp on things I really need to know and would be useful for an EM resident?

I know what you might say, "you gotta know everything". But, please, reasonable answers. I was looking at Cardiothoracics, Trauma, and Ortho. But I wanted to get some advice before I made a final decision.

Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Nosa]

definitely trauma. and i'd pick ortho for the other one. CT surg prob wouldn't be all that relevant to the ED.

 

[WallowaWanderer]

At my school, we have a similar setup, and anesthesia was included in the lineup. For me, that was the most useful because they let me do the most - I got 15 or so DLs as a third year over 3 weeks - about 1 per day. Hours are great as well, and the people are like a breath of fresh air compared to surgeons (goes without saying). If you do anesthesia, request the ENT room or the GYN day surgeryrooms

After that, I would say the service that lets you do the most and the service with the best teaching. That really is where you were learn the most.

I also did trauma as a third year and it was super boring because it was floor based. If you spend time in the unit then it is useful - otherwise you are just rounding on floor patients and it's scut heavy. But it really varies - if there's a ton of teaching on rounds, then it may be a great rotation for you. So it all comes back to the quality of each individual service. If you do trauma, do everything you can to go to rounds in the unit instead of on the floor (if the two are separate)

I think Ortho would be very useful. These people tend to be slightly less miserable than general surgeons, slightly more interested in teaching, and slightly more willing to let you do stuff. There's a ton to learn in ortho, and if you know some of the basics you will look like a star on your EM monthl. If I had to do it again, I would choose that over trauma - on ortho, you will see trauma patients while they are sick because you will be in the OR with them (if you take call).

Optho was also a surgical subspecialty at my school - very useful as well (and very chill)

Next, I would say plastics if they actually let you do stuff. This gives you exposure to complex hand injuries and an opportunity to learn suturing from the masters, but I don't think it's as high yield as the others.

 

[SoCuteMD]

I think ortho (especially if there is clinic experience) and ophtho (slit lamp) would be useful.

Disclaimer: I'm an MS3

 

[BADMD]

In your opinion, which 2 surgery specialties would you recommend me doing to have a better grasp on things I really need to know and would be useful for an EM resident?

Residency is generally going to teach you to do what you need to be a good EP. While a sub-selective might give you a temporary leg up in the beginning, your peers will catch up with you fairly quickly. Try doing something that generally isn't a rotation for your average EM resident and try to do something that you find interesting.

So, if your department has a really good ENT program and you are going to get a good learning experience (not floor scut), consider that. Great CTS program? Try that. A dynamic urology set up? Sweet! So it really matters what is available and what you think you might like. If you like it, you will a) learn more, b) get a better grade, and c) be a more well rounded EP in the end.

 

[c.bear]

I did trauma which was great (mine was SICU and trauma call based). I even got a chest tube as an MSIII. I did CT surgery which was great for learning suturing (they let us do the entire chest incision at the end of the case instead of stapling) but otherwise pretty useless for EM. I think ortho would have been better + they usually love to teach.

 

[EdEmEr]

Residency is generally going to teach you to do what you need to be a good EP. While a sub-selective might give you a temporary leg up in the beginning, your peers will catch up with you fairly quickly. Try doing something that generally isn't a rotation for your average EM resident and try to do something that you find interesting.

So, if your department has a really good ENT program and you are going to get a good learning experience (not floor scut), consider that. Great CTS program? Try that. A dynamic urology set up? Sweet! So it really matters what is available and what you think you might like. If you like it, you will a) learn more, b) get a better grade, and c) be a more well rounded EP in the end.

I can't agree with this enough. I did a two week ortho spine rotation as an afterthought and what I learned comes in useful at least once or twice a month.

 

[Janders]

I agree with the above; while Ortho, trauma, and perhaps plastics are all obviously relevant and will teach you something useful, any surgical service with good teaching will be like a gold mine. And it might be the last time you get exposure to a field that interests you. I think my Surg-onc month was my best learning experience as a MS3.

 

[roja]

what they said

 

[Perrin]

I did Trauma, Ortho, and Neurosurgery during my surg rotation. All three gave me more ED experience than the any of the other options (CT, Uro, Plastics, Transplant). The ortho and neuro gave me some good experience at reading CTs, XRs, and performing a good neuro/skeletomuscular exam. Trauma let me participate in some good trauma exams/workups and you get to take trauma call.

At my school we don't get to do an EM rotation until M4 year, so it is good to get some interaction with the EM residents/faculty down there and to learn how everything works down there. It would have sucked having to work down in the ED while I was on IM without having spent some time down there.

Either way, do what you think will be fun and interesting. If it's boring, you won't learn as much no matter how hard you try.

 

[RockfordWF]

Hey everyone,

I'm an upcoming M3 and am seriously looking at EM as a career. At my school, in the 3rd and 4th years, we have 1 required "surgery specialty" in each of those years. In your opinion, which 2 surgery specialties would you recommend me doing to have a better grasp on things I really need to know and would be useful for an EM resident?

I know what you might say, "you gotta know everything". But, please, reasonable answers. I was looking at Cardiothoracics, Trauma, and Ortho. But I wanted to get some advice before I made a final decision.

Thanks!

By importance, my vote would be as follows:

1. Trauma Surgery
2. Orthopedic Surgery
3. Neurosurgery