Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

Do Thoracic Surgeons Or Cardiac Surgeons Or Trauma Surgeons Do Thoracic/cardiac Trauma?


Recommended Posts

When it comes to a thoracic trauma presenting to the hospital at 11pm, lets say a stab wound to the chest causing hemothorax, would thoracic surgery be consulted over the phone, in person and would they likely operate immediately or would they wait until the next morning? Or would trauma surgery handle a case like a stab wound to the chest. 

 

What if the case was a cardiac trauma? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When it comes to a thoracic trauma presenting to the hospital at 11pm, lets say a stab wound to the chest causing hemothorax, would thoracic surgery be consulted over the phone, in person and would they likely operate immediately or would they wait until the next morning? Or would trauma surgery handle a case like a stab wound to the chest. 

 

What if the case was a cardiac trauma? 

depends on centre

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When it comes to a thoracic trauma presenting to the hospital at 11pm, lets say a stab wound to the chest causing hemothorax, would thoracic surgery be consulted over the phone, in person and would they likely operate immediately or would they wait until the next morning? Or would trauma surgery handle a case like a stab wound to the chest. 

 

What if the case was a cardiac trauma? 

no they would not wait.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When it comes to a thoracic trauma presenting to the hospital at 11pm, lets say a stab wound to the chest causing hemothorax, would thoracic surgery be consulted over the phone, in person and would they likely operate immediately or would they wait until the next morning? Or would trauma surgery handle a case like a stab wound to the chest.

 

What if the case was a cardiac trauma?

Time for going to the OR would depend on a bunch of stuff, hemodynamically stability for instance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When it comes to a thoracic trauma presenting to the hospital at 11pm, lets say a stab wound to the chest causing hemothorax, would thoracic surgery be consulted over the phone, in person and would they likely operate immediately or would they wait until the next morning? Or would trauma surgery handle a case like a stab wound to the chest. 

 

What if the case was a cardiac trauma? 

 

 

To the first question, stab wounds to the chest do not necessarily require emergency thoracotomy. So it depends. If the centre is big enough to have an actual trauma surgery service, they would see the patient first and any other on-call staff would come in as needed. 

 

Certainly only cardiac surgeons would be involved for any cardiac trauma (provided the patient was still alive!). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's too many variables to give you an accurate answer.

 

Are you asking for personal interest? 

 

Yes. Im interested in cardiothoracic surgery as well as general surgery, but I am just wondering whether or not thoracic does trauma. It does affect their lifestyle I am sure if they deal with trauma vs if they don't/to what degree of trauma. I'm pretty confident that if the center has a trauma team most likely simpler cases or highly emergent cases will be managed by trauma, but i'm wondering at what point or in what cases would thoracics or cardiac be consulted or when would they have to come in as well. 

 

I do have a second question regarding the possibilities of a cardiac surgeon or a thoracic surgeon (with a cardiac surgery residency) of doing international surgery. I know this is typically the domain of general surgery, orthopedics, plastics or ob/gyn but i'm just wondering if there is this possibility or is cardiothoracics essentially a specialty that has no real role. I do know that in a cardiac surgery residency you will do a bit of general/trauma surgery, but that isn't nearly enough training right? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thoracic surgery residency would force you to be exposed to general surgery and then thoracics. This may give you "usefulness" in a international surgery team being able to deal with bread and butter gen surg/thoracic cases in situation where you do not have all the expensive medical equipment usually required in cardiac surgery. 

 

For instance, I am thinking about Vincent Échavé, former thoracic surgeon at the Université de Sherbrooke who did a lot of humanitarian work with Doctors Without Borders. http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/dr-vincent-echave-to-receive-the-cmas-highest-honour-536534721.html

 

However, a cardiac surgery training may also help you fulfill your interests in international surgery. "Sainte Justine au coeur du monde" ("Hospital St Justine at the heart of the world" , free translation) is a group of physicians, nurses and other professional in a children hospital in Montreal who has done several missions over the last years, all in third-world countries trying to fix congenital heart malformation and teach local physicians, either with interventional cardiology or cardiac surgical approaches. http://www.stejustineaucoeurdumonde.org

 

Either way, "international surgery" should not be the endpoint. The specialty itself with the mix of cases and the type of pathologies should matter more. I have an attending in general surgery who mainly do bariatric surgery and complex abdominal wall reconstruction, and she does 1 mission every other year. She went to Jordan last year for 1 month. I also have a friend in pediatric surgery who is planning to do some humanitarian work as well. There was this invited plastic surgeon last year from Ukrainian ascendance who presented the results of his mission in Ukraine during the was with Russia not so long ago.

 

Just find what you like the most, and then you will be able to adapt it to international surgery! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In case you don't know, in Canada thoracic surgery and cardiac surgery are two completely different training streams. We don't have cardiothoracic surgery like the US does. If you are a trained cardiac surgeon here you aren't doing thoracic cases and vice versa.

 

I know, its just that you can do a thoracic surgery residency after both cardiac or general surgery, so its something I have been considering as well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know, its just that you can do a thoracic surgery residency after both cardiac or general surgery, so its something I have been considering as well. 

 

How common is it for the cardiac people to go that route? Heard a way back some where doing it to expand the skill set in a tight job market. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How common is it for the cardiac people to go that route? Heard a way back some where doing it to expand the skill set in a tight job market. 

 

I've looked through CPSO, and found two people I believe who've done it and practicing in Ontario (as general thoracic surgeons). There may be more who have done it and gone elsewhere. I do know that the Cardiac -> Vascular fellowship route is more common in a tight job market. 

 

The reason I don't think though that it is a very common route in Ontario at least is because community hospitals that have thoracics probably want a general -> thoracics surgeon since that kind of surgeon could do general surgery as well. Academic centers are competitive and since all the thoracic surgeons there are trained gen -> thoracics its probably a bit hard to get hired there. Only a few community centers do both cardaic and thoracics which is probably why you don't see many doctors doing this. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've looked through CPSO, and found two people I believe who've done it and practicing in Ontario (as general thoracic surgeons). There may be more who have done it and gone elsewhere. I do know that the Cardiac -> Vascular fellowship route is more common in a tight job market. 

 

The reason I don't think though that it is a very common route in Ontario at least is because community hospitals that have thoracics probably want a general -> thoracics surgeon since that kind of surgeon could do general surgery as well. Academic centers are competitive and since all the thoracic surgeons there are trained gen -> thoracics its probably a bit hard to get hired there. Only a few community centers do both cardaic and thoracics which is probably why you don't see many doctors doing this. 

 

hmm that makes sense - although you can do more you cannot do "enough" to really fit into the particular way we structure departments etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...