surgery vs anesthesia

[shreebee]

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i'm starting to get really scared about applying for a gen surg residency now...im not sure if it's cold feet or if im really not ready for that kind of lifestyle. i was contemplating anesthesia before and although i really loved my surgery rotations, lifestyle is a big factor in my decision. does anyone have any opinions on applying to both residencies? my plan was this...i would gather the materials together for applying for both...recc letters, personal statement, etc...do some more electives in both...and hopefully by november know which one it is...and if i cant figure it out by november, then apply for both...what do other people think?

 

[njbmd]

i'm starting to get really scared about applying for a gen surg residency now...im not sure if it's cold feet or if im really not ready for that kind of lifestyle. i was contemplating anesthesia before and although i really loved my surgery rotations, lifestyle is a big factor in my decision. does anyone have any opinions on applying to both residencies? my plan was this...i would gather the materials together for applying for both...recc letters, personal statement, etc...do some more electives in both...and hopefully by november know which one it is...and if i cant figure it out by november, then apply for both...what do other people think?

Hi there,
You will incure more expense as for anesthesia you have to apply for a PGY-1 year and your CA-1 year at the same time. As for lifestyle, be sure that you completely understand the implications of the practice of both specialties. While anesthesia has a great lifestyle, you need to love it or you will be very, very unhappy. The same goes for surgery. Also, unless you are a MS-III, November is pretty late to be sending in ERAS stuff. You need to get your residency applications in no later than the first week of October so that you get interview invitations early. This means that you need to do your fourth year electives early in the year August and September.

Anesthesia and surgery are very very different as you well know. It is cheaper in the long run, to pick one or the other but for both, make sure that you apply to enough programs to get at least 15 interviews in each specialty. That means a total of 30+ interviews which is load of "rubber chicken" and travel. For both, apply widely across the board as both specialties are competitive and you do not want to be scrambling.

njbmd 🙂

 

[mysophobe]

If you're already second-guessing your decision to pursue surgery, you should probably pick something else. It's unlikely that you will be pleasantly surprised by the surgery lifestyle.

 

[footcramp]

anesthesia is lame

 

[ExtraCrispy]

i'm starting to get really scared about applying for a gen surg residency now...im not sure if it's cold feet or if im really not ready for that kind of lifestyle. i was contemplating anesthesia before and although i really loved my surgery rotations, lifestyle is a big factor in my decision. does anyone have any opinions on applying to both residencies? my plan was this...i would gather the materials together for applying for both...recc letters, personal statement, etc...do some more electives in both...and hopefully by november know which one it is...and if i cant figure it out by november, then apply for both...what do other people think?

Depending upon the structure of your fourth you *can* do *one* elective in both and make your decision, as long as that all happens in July and August. By September, you really want to focus on your application, for the reasons njbmd mentioned.

That said, it's definitely possible - and probably smartest! - to do an elective in each and weigh your decision based upon your experiences. I was actually in a similar situation, and it worked out fine; I also know several current interns who didn't make a final decision until they'd done a rotation or two in their fourth year.

As far as anesthesia vs. surgery, a fellow in pediatric surgery with whom I once worked gave me this advice: "If you can be HAPPY doing anything else, don't go into surgery. I don't mean happiER, I don't mean kind of happy, if you can be HAPPY, period, then go into another field." He meant that surgical residency is so difficult, that if you can do anything else without being miserable, then do it.