Tortured: ENT Vs Plastics

[Melimelomed]

I discovered ENT late in my first year of medicine and I fell in love with it. I did extensive shadowing throughout the first half of Med-2 and worked on multiple research projects (including basic sc.) with multiple publications and oral presentation at conferences coming up.

I thought that ENT was for me and that nothing could make me change my mind until I started a pediatric plastic surgery elective (I am now a Med-3). I decided to do this rotation because I have always been fascinated by congenital malformations and because I love working with children. The problem is that I just fell in love with peds plastics! (And I am pretty sure I would love the rest of plastic surgery a well) I discovered I love the procedures done in plastics and while the ENT "bread and butter" cases seem somewhat boring to be it seems that everything in plastics is much more interesting!

I feel stuck as plastics is so competitive and my CV is entirely tailored to applying in ENT.

Has anyone ever been in the same situation (i.e. being torn between plastics and ENT)? What made you decide one way vs the other?


Thanks!

Mel

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[droliver]

Plastic Surgery training and practice is much more akin in many ways to General Surgery rather then ENT, orthopedics, or other pathways into the field. Your exposure to a pediatric practice is a pretty tertiary area in 2007 and there are very few people doing those cases anymore for alot of reasons. If there is a way to generalize high-volume "bread & butter" in Plastic Surgery then think skin cancer, wound care, and breast reduction surgery. If those doesn't float your boat, reconsider ENT.

 

[whistler]

A large chunk of plastic surgeons are ENT's who did a one year fellowship in facial plastics...why not do this?

 

[Melimelomed]

From my understanding, most ENTs who later decide to go into plastic surgery generally do mainly facial cosmetic, something I am not really interested in. However, I do know that at my institution one of the general plastic surgeon actually trained in EN.
What interests me in plastic surgery is reconstructive surgeries and pediatric plastic surgery and I am afraid this would not be easily doable through an ENT residency. I am thinking of applying to both ENT and plastic surgery and doing a total of 3-4 electives in ENT and 2 electives in plastic surgery. I already have done a lot of research in ENT and it is probably not too late to get started on a plastic surgery project.
However, I can't see to make up my mind on what I will do for my electives as I am afraid that my wanting too much (i.e. applying to the 2 most competitive specialities in Canada, ENT and plastics) I may end up unmatched...
I am still torturing myself trying to figure out what I really want to do...