Surgical/procedural specialties

[JPSmyth]

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I'm an incoming MS1 and I've shadowed a bunch of specialties, in both medicine and surgery (hundreds of hours each). I wanted to ask you guys, especially those of you that want to be surgeons, ophthalmologists, ENTs, did you love surgery/procedures when you first saw them?

I'm by no means squeamish, and I've seen many surgeries up close, but I don't know if I can picture myself being the one cutting and going in. It's one thing to watch and another to do. Is this something that changes during medical school generally? Or should I pretty much rule out surgical specialties for myself?

Thanks

 

[aalamruad]

Everyone gets used to it, as will you

 

[Afp0731]

I'm an incoming MS1 and I've shadowed a bunch of specialties, in both medicine and surgery (hundreds of hours each). I wanted to ask you guys, especially those of you that want to be surgeons, ophthalmologists, ENTs, did you love surgery/procedures when you first saw them?

I'm by no means squeamish, and I've seen many surgeries up close, but I don't know if I can picture myself being the one cutting and going in. It's one thing to watch and another to do. Is this something that changes during medical school generally? Or should I pretty much rule out surgical specialties for myself?

Thanks

I am only a medical school applicant(hopefully incoming MS1 as well) but here is how I feel. When I first decided to pursue medicine, I started shadowing a cardio thoracic surgeon. Day one in the operating room watching a quad bypass and I was head over heals for surgery. Hands on work, satisfaction of immediate effect on/benefit for the patient, team player environment, fast-paced and high intensity, very anatomically relevant, great balance of clinic/surgery... I was completely sold on surgery and did not waiver for a long time. Four years later and after much more experience, I'm not so sure that I see myself in the surgery world anymore. At some point I realized that work-life balance was important I am not sure that surgery would give me the balance that I want anymore. This being said, I am keeping my mind open. After watching a number of friends go through, medical school appears to challenge even the strongest preconceived notions quite a bit. Pretty sure you will encounter a wealth of opportunities to answer this question for yourself in the near future.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

The first time you have to do something invasive to a person, you basically just suck it up and do it. After the first time, it's cake.

 

[NeuResurgens]

Depends on the person. I'm most interested in procedural specialties and it was the thought of surgery that made me interested in the science of medicine in the first place. I love anatomy, I love working with my hands, and I can't get enough of it whenever I'm in the OR. not everyone who becomes a surgeon is that way though, you might start doing it more regularly in rotations or something and find that you love it.