Who here actually knows...

[Sir Buckethead]

I read somewhere that anesthesiologists were high on the list of desired specialties for helping out medical missions.

Thanks I'll add that to my list. I have no idea why i view gas favorably. I couldnt describe it to you in a way that makes it seem interesting but I still think it's cool for some reason.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[foreverLaur]

it is certainly a very important and risky specialty but i think i'd get bored. they just sit there during surgery and pretty much chill. well, the CRNA's do. I think the actual anesthesiologist was in the OR for a total of about 5 minutes max for every surgery. he wandered around to all the surgeries to check in on all the CRNA's who were the ones actually doing most the work.

 

[MWK]

Just keep an open mind throughout med school, guys...

You've said that you knew you wanted to go into CT when you were our age. Did you ever waver from that through med school (well how bout GS, we'll expand it a little)?

 

[Blade28]

You've said that you knew you wanted to go into CT when you were our age. Did you ever waver from that through med school (well how bout GS, we'll expand it a little)?

I know, I was lucky. Most aren't.

But I kept an open mind, actually struggled and debated with pursuing other fields during third year (since I liked almost everything).

In the end, the same things that attracted me about surgery stayed true: good variety of patients (old and young, male and female, critically ill and relatively healthy); the challenge of a difficult case; developing your technical skills; being able to plan out an operation and then actually open someone up and see the pathology firsthand; the ability to "heal" or "cure" or help alleviate someone's suffering almost instantly (in surgery we LOVE instant gratification, and we're all relatively impatient!); the diligence needed for good peri-op care; being one of the few fields where you have to gain the patient's (and the family's trust) instantly - one minute you're meeting them for the first time in the ER with a severe surgical problem, two hours later your hands are in their body...

All great stuff.

 

[jochi1543]

I'm leaning towards primary care - FP or IM. IM might be a better option just because I could keep my doors open to specializing later - but then again, it appears that you need a lot of research to be competitive for fellowships, and I hate research, so who knows if I'm ever going to even bother with it. I'm also interested in living/practicing in a rural or semi-rural area, and in terms of $/lifestyle, if you are a rural FP in Canada, you're set. Obviously, the overhead is really cheap, and combined with the malpractice rates of about $1,500 a year, you can afford to work part-time if you want to. Secondly, everybody's drooling over you - a lot of small towns have gone as far as to provide free office spaces and pay for physicians' relocation, and I know recently some town in Ontario, I believe, gave the new doc $150K as a signing bonus (which is the amount of loans usually given to med students for the 4 years in Canada). So debt can be easily managed in this situation. Last but not least, I was reading someplace about a doc in Alberta who goes up to Northern Ontario ("underserved" area) for a month every year, where he just works all 4 weeks straight and makes $30,000 during that time. Hardly a bad deal!

 

[MWK]

I know, I was lucky. Most aren't.

But I kept an open mind, actually struggled and debated with pursuing other fields during third year (since I liked almost everything).

In the end, the same things that attracted me about surgery stayed true: good variety of patients (old and young, male and female, critically ill and relatively healthy); the challenge of a difficult case; developing your technical skills; being able to plan out an operation and then actually open someone up and see the pathology firsthand; the ability to "heal" or "cure" or help alleviate someone's suffering almost instantly (in surgery we LOVE instant gratification, and we're all relatively impatient!); the diligence needed for good peri-op care; being one of the few fields where you have to gain the patient's (and the family's trust) instantly - one minute you're meeting them for the first time in the ER with a severe surgical problem, two hours later your hands are in their body...

All great stuff.

Thats what has me initially attracted to it

The doc I work for has let me participate in some very minor aspects of surgery, and just palpating a living colon or moving around the innerds is just amazing to me. I'm hopelessly hooked.

 

[neuro1617]

Pediatric Neurology The brain and different diseases' effects on it and the body is fascinating..I used to think pediatric oncology but after a lot of volunteering & shadowing, I'm not sure I could deal with it every day. So I'll just go on happily believing that I'm in the 10% that won't change our minds....

 

[jr doctor in sd]

I know, I was lucky. Most aren't.

But I kept an open mind, actually struggled and debated with pursuing other fields during third year (since I liked almost everything).

In the end, the same things that attracted me about surgery stayed true: good variety of patients (old and young, male and female, critically ill and relatively healthy); the challenge of a difficult case; developing your technical skills; being able to plan out an operation and then actually open someone up and see the pathology firsthand; the ability to "heal" or "cure" or help alleviate someone's suffering almost instantly (in surgery we LOVE instant gratification, and we're all relatively impatient!); the diligence needed for good peri-op care; being one of the few fields where you have to gain the patient's (and the family's trust) instantly - one minute you're meeting them for the first time in the ER with a severe surgical problem, two hours later your hands are in their body...

All great stuff.

I always wondered about doing some invasive stuff...but like many have said, i have to keep an open mind. The only thing i know currently about invasive surgery is that I wouldn't be afraid of seeing blood and that i have small hands

 

[xeulee]

I'm thinking something in neonatology or pediatrics but I'm going to keep an open mind.

 

[Ashers]

it is certainly a very important and risky specialty but i think i'd get bored. they just sit there during surgery and pretty much chill. well, the CRNA's do. I think the actual anesthesiologist was in the OR for a total of about 5 minutes max for every surgery. he wandered around to all the surgeries to check in on all the CRNA's who were the ones actually doing most the work.

I've never seen that happen. Every surgery I've been in has had the attending or resident present the entire time. I know sometimes they take breaks, but they'll go get another anesthesiologist to replace them.

 

[foreverLaur]

I've never seen that happen. Every surgery I've been in has had the attending or resident present the entire time. I know sometimes they take breaks, but they'll go get another anesthesiologist to replace them.

interesting. i've spent 5 days at Akron General Medical Center and it was the CRNA the whole time. i've spent two weeks in the OR at The Ohio State Medical Center (some main campus, some east) and it was the exact same way. The CRNA did it all. My friend is a CRNA in Chicago and she said she basically does it all - there is just an anesthesiologist on staff wandering around, checking it, and there for problems.

 

[Meatwad]

interesting. i've spent 5 days at Akron General Medical Center and it was the CRNA the whole time. i've spent two weeks in the OR at The Ohio State Medical Center (some main campus, some east) and it was the exact same way. The CRNA did it all. My friend is a CRNA in Chicago and she said she basically does it all - there is just an anesthesiologist on staff wandering around, checking it, and there for problems.

Depends on the hospital and the location, as CRNA's have different responsibilities depending on legislation in the area, I believe.

If the gas doc just wandered around for 10 hours a a day and raked in $300k plus, I think I'd have found my specialty already. If ONLY it were that easy...

 

[foreverLaur]

Depends on the hospital and the location, as CRNA's have different responsibilities depending on legislation in the area, I believe.

If the gas doc just wandered around for 10 hours a a day and raked in $300k plus, I think I'd have found my specialty already. If ONLY it were that easy...

I'm very tempted to shadow an anesthesiologist around here in Ohio because it seems all they do is wander!!

 

[Ashers]

I'm very tempted to shadow an anesthesiologist around here in Ohio because it seems all they do is wander!!

They're usually the DJs when I've seen them (HI and WI). My dad typically requests Beatles, so a lot of the anesthesiologists have 1 or 2 Beatles CDs or Beatles on their iPods for him to listen to (that's HI).

 

[inaminute]

I-banking, because I'd probably loathe the system and people by that point.

hahah

I will be a pole dancer.

 

[Meatwad]

They're usually the DJs when I've seen them (HI and WI). My dad typically requests Beatles, so a lot of the anesthesiologists have 1 or 2 Beatles CDs or Beatles on their iPods for him to listen to (that's HI).

Your dad rules... Beatle = greatest band of all time.

hahah

I will be a pole dancer.

inaminute.... PM me with pics of you practicing plz.

 

[Ashers]

Your dad rules... Beatle = greatest band of all time.

I agree. I played tourist in Liverpool and did all the Beatles stuff when I lived in England for a study abroad. That accomplished 1 lifelong goal. =)

 

[hildtom]

I've had the greatest exposure to and interest in general surgery. I'm keeping an open mind though, because maybe I'll find one of my clerkship rotations really great and it turns out it's not in surgery

heyyyyy, it says you're pre-med. which one ARE you?

 

[Blade28]

Im a female- but I have said Peds Oncology since I was 13... and here in atlanta there are more men in the hemocology oncology department than women.

Adult or peds?

In many departments the men outnumber the women - but this is more a byproduct of the previous generation. Many med schools have females equalling or outnumbering the males now.

But my point was, many female pre-meds, for whatever reason, seem to gravitate towards Peds (and especially Peds Heme-Onc). This often changes in med school.

 

[Blade28]

Thats what has me initially attracted to it

The doc I work for has let me participate in some very minor aspects of surgery, and just palpating a living colon or moving around the innerds is just amazing to me. I'm hopelessly hooked.

As long as you don't call them "innerds," we'll be OK.