Why would/did some of you choose to enter Surgery?

[Zeffer]

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Why would/did some of you choose to enter Surgery? I'm just curious because lately I have heard so many bad things about this field ie:no free time, difficult residency, lower reimbursment from Medicaid/care, attendings that treat you like dirt (not true in every residency I'm sure).

What has kept your drive for sugery going?

 

[acurarte]

The real reasons: Low pay, no free time, enjoy not sleeping, didn't recieve enough punishment as a child, level of difficulty and lastly to be treated like the dirty little ******* I am!

I guess it just felt right!

 

[Zeffer]

LOL!!!!!!

 

[Winged Scapula]

Simple: it was fun and I enjoyed it more than any other rotation I did in medical school.

 

[SMS]

Granted, I'm just days away from finding out whether I made a colossal mistake...(I get sent to the wards next Friday afternoon!!!)

I chose surgery because I love working with my hands AND my brain (and because the thought of thirty years of 8a-to-5p clinic every stinkin' day of the week had me looking for a gun. <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> A big gun--the biggest I could find.) I might do fellowships in peds surgery and critical care (yes, I know, glutton for punishment! 🙄 ) afterwards, and get to work with sick kids. Yes, pediatricians also (duh) work with sick kids, but their sick-to-well ratio is way too low for my taste. (And well-child checks send me right up the wall--too repetitive)

 

[SMS]

Here I am again...I didn't put enough parentheses in the first time. 😀

Surgical rotations at my med school were very academic/evidence based in nature, and it let me see that the "knuckle-draggin' surgeon/gorilla" stereotype was not the only way to be. And of all the medical types I saw, the surgeons were the most involved with their patients' care, and certainly the most motivated to provide excellent care (the critical care pediatricians tied). This is probably only a reflection of my own school, but it made quite an impact.

Finally, I found out through my rotations that I was happiest when I was busy-busy-busy. I don't do well with too much free time--I get bored, lazy and unhappy. I stumbled through surgical rotations where I did about 90 hours of work (awake, not counting sleep hours on call) per week on about 25-30 hours of sleep. I was tired and slightly incoherent, but just plain happy . I sleepwalked through other rotations where I worked 35 hours a week on 65 hours of sleep and had to remind myself not to start screaming on rounds. <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" />

 

[LaCirujana]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by SMS:
• I found out through my rotations that I was happiest when I was busy-busy-busy. I don't do well with too much free time--I get bored, lazy and unhappy. I stumbled through surgical rotations where I did about 90 hours of work (awake, not counting sleep hours on call) per week on about 25-30 hours of sleep. I was tired and slightly incoherent, but just plain happy . I sleepwalked through other rotations where I worked 35 hours a week on 65 hours of sleep and had to remind myself not to start screaming on rounds. <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" /> •••••That pretty much says it. Plus, IMHO, surgery is about the most fun you can have fully clothed :wink: (and I didn't really like any other specialty enough to want to do it for the rest of my life.)

 

[md03]

I like DOING things. I suspected surgery would be near the top of my list early on. Things that clinched it for me included the following

First day of first rotation (internal medicine): 3 hour rounds on 12 patients was pure torture!! I learned that day that intolerance of long rounds is one prerequiste for being a surgeon.

Clinic experiences in peds, OB, family medicine: VERY repetitive, and generally minor problems. The thought of a career like that makes me want to scream

LOVED my surgery rotation, despite the hours. Trauma was q2 call, but I had a blast. I like problems that can be fixed. I also like very sick ICU patients. However, when my chief on general surgery let me actually do two cases, I was hooked.

 

[dr.evil]

It was definitely a process of elimination. I ruled out:

anything that required clinic every day;
any specialty that only fixed a problem with meds;
specialties that didn't even attempt to fix the problem

So I ruled out peds, fp, psych.

I liked OB/GYN but need a little more variety (in patients and procedures).

The internal medicine subspecialties were attractive but there was no way I could live through 3 years of internal med residency. Medicine is a different breed of joe.

It came down to Surgery or Radiology for me and although I really enjoyed radiology and the opportunity to continue on to do interventional, I struggled with the lack of patient care. Although there was more patient care than I had originally thought, it was not the definitive management care that I desired.

So surgery it was and is and I pray that in a week and a half I don't regret it. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

It really helps to LOVE the OR which most of us do. There is really nothing like the serenity (or sometimes not so serene) of the OR.

8 hours doing something you absolutely hate or 16 hours doing something you really like. Your decision.

 

[mddo2b]

I agree 100% with all of the above. I was asked this question about a zillion times during interviews. I had an interview during a rotation at a hopital I was doin a surgery elective in. I was interviewed by one of the attendings wworked with and who was a great mentor for me. The interview was very informal and when he asked me why surgery. amd I told him that if he wanted I could give him a canned answer---i like to work with my hands, etc. He looked at me funny and he asked me for a genuine answer. I looked him in the eye and told him that I fell in love with surgery as a third year student. I explained to him all the qualities I enjoyed about the field, and how I ruled otu every other field of medicine. But in the end I just had this feeling in my gut that I could not ignore, the same way you know you are in love with someone. Its hard to put into words, you just know. He loved the answer. I know it sounds kinda goofy(OK lots goofy) but it was the truth.
Anway , just my 2 cents.....and btw, i only had the balls to use that answer once....

 

[ApacheIndian]

MDDO2b: love the sig... Shem's "House of God"... a real classic ...

 

[Winged Scapula]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by md03:
[QB I learned that day that intolerance of long rounds is one prerequiste for being a surgeon.
[/QB]••••LOL! 😀 I totally agree.