what are you thoughts/opinions?

[remote]

so i wanted to see what everyone's thoughts are on the field of urology...in my limited experience, i've noticed that opinions change dramatically about the field of urology as one progresses through med school/residency. so what are your thoughts? and if you would, please indicate at what level of training you are (pre-med/med student/resident/attending). thanks.

this is what i've noticed:

pre-med/MS1 - most don't even know what urology is and that it's actually a field.
MS2 - have a little idea on the field but almost no one would say they'd want to go into it.
MS3 - the variety/flexibility of the field starts to become appreciated and students start to realize how great of a field it is, when comparing to other fields they're exposed to during rotations
MS4 - for those not going into it, they understand the competitiveness of the field and respect their classmates who are going into it as they are often at the top of the class.
residents/attendings - respect the field and some wish they had done it especially those in other surgical fields.

do you agree? am i wrong? what do you all think? i'm just curious as urology seems to be a very polarizing field but i may be wrong...

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[CatFactorial]

MS2 -- No interest whatsoever.

Addendum:

You've got a rather urocentric view of medicine. I sincerely doubt that people who don't end up as urologists kick themselves for the rest of their career.

And, penis.

 

[gooze]

MS2 -- No interest whatsoever.

Addendum:

You've got a rather urocentric view of medicine. I sincerely doubt that people who don't end up as urologists kick themselves for the rest of their career.

And, penis.

that's not what i was trying to say. i understand many pple don't want to be urologists...the same way i wouldn't want to be in many, many fields. but just something i've noticed esp. from pple in general surgery who realize that they're working harder and have worst lifestyles than urologists while urologists make more money...

also, what field do you think you'd be interested in?

 

[ArcGurren]

so i wanted to see what everyone's thoughts are on the field of urology...in my limited experience, i've noticed that opinions change dramatically about the field of urology as one progresses through med school/residency. so what are your thoughts? and if you would, please indicate at what level of training you are (pre-med/med student/resident/attending). thanks.

this is what i've noticed:

pre-med/MS1 - most don't even know what urology is and that it's actually a field.
MS2 - have a little idea on the field but almost no one would say they'd want to go into it.
MS3 - the variety/flexibility of the field starts to become appreciated and students start to realize how great of a field it is, when comparing to other fields they're exposed to during rotations
MS4 - for those not going into it, they understand the competitiveness of the field and respect their classmates who are going into it as they are often at the top of the class.
residents/attendings - respect the field and some wish they had done it especially those in other surgical fields.

do you agree? am i wrong? what do you all think? i'm just curious as urology seems to be a very polarizing field but i may be wrong...

Um, plenty of people know what urology is. People don't apply for it for a variety of reasons.

1) It's surgery. Not everyone likes surgery.
2) Not everyone likes those kinds of surgeries
3) It's competitive, but it has more to do with who you know than how high your board score is (that's certainly used as criteria but it doesn't make or break your application as much as LORs, research, etc)

I was plenty interested in urology until I did my surgery rotation and hated it - and there's still aspects of uro I like, but not enough to warrant going through a 5 year surgical residency for it (even if it isn't quite as intense as most other surgical residencies).

 

[GladifImakeit]

I really think people should avoid vague titles such as this one... Thoughts/opinions about what? I was hoping this thread was about peanut butter ice cream but was sorely disappointed to find out it's about urology.

 

[CatFactorial]

that's not what i was trying to say. i understand many pple don't want to be urologists...the same way i wouldn't want to be in many, many fields. but just something i've noticed esp. from pple in general surgery who realize that they're working harder and have worst lifestyles than urologists while urologists make more money...

also, what field do you think you'd be interested in?

Something nonsurgical. Nothing against surgery, but I have an admittedly irrational fear that, if I went into the field, I'd somehow injure myself eventually and prematurely end my career.

 

[KinasePro]

MS1/MS2: very interested in the field, but irrationally worried about being known as a p33n doc for the rest of my life.

I think you're partially correct OP, in that most medical students don't really know what urologists do until they've been on the wards for a while, and they especially don't know about the perks of the field. I'm only interested because I lurk SDN and have shadowed them in the past.

But I doubt other surgeons are particularly envious of urologists. I think they respect the field and recognize its value but don't necessarily wish they would have become a uro.

 

[dr seuss]

I only like peanut butter ice cream if there is some chocolate in it.

 

[GladifImakeit]

I only like peanut butter ice cream if there is some chocolate in it.

Now that's what I'm talking about! Yummmm!

 

[bad virus]

I think it's a cool field, but I would never want to mix business with pleasure.