What doctor is most like a Swiss Army knife?

[duopy]

I am wondering what specialty requires above average knowledge of most aspects of medicine. Initially, I was thinking emergency med. any thoughts?

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[mimelim]

Diagnostician and it isn't close.

 

[getdown]

Dr. House. He can diagnose patients, do his own surgery (without anesthesia it seems), run radiology imaging and even break into houses. He's a the whole doctor package.

 

[itsmcv2015]

Family Medicine. (Not even a contest here.)

Emergency Medicine might be the answer if you were talking acute care. If you're thinking most useful anywhere outside the hospital, probably Wilderness Medicine, a subspecialty of Emergency Medicine focused on practice in austere environments using improvisational medicine.

Next question?

 

[Oso]

nephrology

once you understand the nephron, you understand everything.

 

[pioneer22]

neurosurgery

 

[TheBiologist]

nephrology

once you understand the nephron, you understand everything.

it just so happens that Dr. House was a nephrologist 😉

 

[Goro]

I am wondering what specialty requires above average knowledge of most aspects of medicine. Initially, I was thinking emergency med. any thoughts?

Was this an interview question?

 

[Mad Jack]

it just so happens that Dr. House was a nephrologist 😉

Nephro/ID

he was basically a double nerd, and a doc after my own heart

 

[non-trad++]

Dr. Najeeb.

 

[duopy]

Was this an interview question?

This was not an interview question. Just something I was wondering about.

 

[non-trad++]

This was not an interview question. Just something I was wondering about.

It is now...

 

[HomeSkool]

I'm gonna put in a plug for my own specialty here. Try and find one single patient population that we outsource to other services. Even the FP guys defer to neonatologists on the ultra-premies.

 

[RNthenDoc]

I'd say a properly-trained FM doc.

 

[3toedsloth]

I'd say a properly-trained FM doc.

"Referral to dermatology, psychiatry, ortho, cardiology, rheumatology, endocrinology, and physical therapy"
😕

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

Dr. House. He can diagnose patients, do his own surgery (without anesthesia it seems), run radiology imaging and even break into houses. He's a the whole doctor package.

Or that guy from "The Resident" --- he walks around in jeans and scrub shirt like he owns the whole hospital and tells the Chief of Surgery to go F himself

 

[RNthenDoc]

"Referral to dermatology, psychiatry, ortho, cardiology, rheumatology, endocrinology, and physical therapy"
😕

Aren’t most psychotropes and diabetic regimens prescribed by FM? 😉

 

[stickgirl390]

Has anyone thrown general internal med in yet? That’s my vote

 

[WedgeDawg]

IMO

Adults:
IM

Kids:
Peds

Both:
General Surgery
FM
EM

I don't really know what I'm talking about though

 

[caesars palace]

Or that guy from "The Resident" --- he walks around in jeans and scrub shirt like he owns the whole hospital and tells the Chief of Surgery to go F himself

I know right? He said in episode two he's a medicine resident but in the same episode he scrubbed into a heart transplant and it showed a dramatic shot of him holding his patient's old heart in his hands.

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

I know right? He said in episode two he's a medicine resident but in the same episode he scrubbed into a heart transplant and it showed a dramatic shot of him holding his patient's old heart in his hands.

It's weird how every medical TV show character is 50X smarter than anything in real life --- even Carter from "ER" was smarter than most attendings when he was still an MS3

 

[caesars palace]

It's weird how every medical TV show character is 50X smarter than anything in real life --- even Carter from "ER" was smarter than most attendings when he was still an MS3

I need to check out ER, I'm a sucker for medical tv shows after I started watching Grey's Anatomy after a decade of avoiding it and ended up binging it. Now I have free time before med school I'm going to watch all the classics

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

I need to check out ER, I'm a sucker for medical tv shows after I started watching Grey's Anatomy after a decade of avoiding it and ended up binging it. Now I have free time before med school I'm going to watch all the classics

Every episode of "ER" is now available on Hulu. I enjoyed the first 4 or 5 seasons but stopped watching after that.

 

[mwsapphire]

Dr. House. He can diagnose patients, do his own surgery (without anesthesia it seems), run radiology imaging and even break into houses. He's a the whole doctor package.

Not to mention cute as hell 😉

 

[aldol16]

I would say internal medicine or family medicine in a rural/county setting where you're basically the only care provider. It's actually quite surprising how much doctors subspecialize nowadays - in rural areas, the emphasis is actually on knowledge of a lot of things versus a lot of knowledge on a few things.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

If you think about a Swiss Army knife its basically just a set of the ~6 highest yield tools you could ever find yourself needing it virtually any situation.

I think this is most like EM. EM guys aren’t trained to long term manage someone’s Derm issues, But in the short run they sure as hell know the major life & limb threatening derm conditions and have an idea of how to initiate treatment. Much like how the screw driver on a multi tool isn’t designed to do everything an entire screwdriver kit can...but that little screw driver will save your ass if the all you’ve got.

In this Analogy, the actual knife on the Swiss Army knife would probably be resuscitation, since it’s definitly the most important even if it doesn’t get used as often as the bottle opener your mooch of a friend is always borrowing

 

[non-trad++]

Since the interviewer will be most interested in my thought process/critical thinking, I would also approach it from an additional angle: ... analogue to rusty/rarely used tools in a Swiss Army knife, which speciality/Doctor possesses the most ‘unused’ skills...

Psychiatrist?

 

[TelemarketingEnigma]

Since the interviewer will be most interested in my thought process/critical thinking, I would also approach it from an additional angle: ... analogue to rusty/rarely used tools in a Swiss Army knife, which speciality/Doctor possesses the most ‘unused’ skills...

Psychiatrist?

If you're letting your knife get rusty, you're not taking very good care of your knife.