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Why surgery?

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Kirsteen Newbie

Kirsteen

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Hello to all you cutters - let's get a thread started here, as inspired by the rads and gas threads, on why surgery is so cool:

 

I'm starting MS1 this fall, so I've got a ways to go, but I wanna get an idea of what surgery is about...

Hi there,

 

For one, in terms of problem solving, relative to other specialties, Surgery can be quite efficient. You can often determine a structural cause of a problem then physically amend it.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

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TheresaS3D Newbie

TheresaS3D

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Hey,

basically if you like thinking about the best way to solve a problem, then actually solving it, then surgery may be for you. But medicine might be for you too....the reason I decided on surgery is because i liked the fast pace...you're always doing something, your never bored, and lets face it, its fun to be in the OR :)

 

If your at UofT, come out to an S3D event (club I started this year)

 

http://www.torontomeds.com/s3d

 

 

T

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  • 4 weeks later...
physiology Newbie

physiology

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Hello,

 

If lifestyle is an issue for you, I would think about surgery very carefully. The residency years are long and tough, and unfortunately sometimes still consist of "old boys clubs."

 

Once you're done, it gets easier, but unfortunately, if someone needs a lap appy, you have to come in, unlike the attendings for internal medicine, who do their work over the phone, in communication with the senior resident. Surgery residents can't do surgery unassisted.

 

Also, generall, there's no "post-call" day once you're an attending. If you're on call that night, and you have 2 lap appies to do, you still have to wake up the next morning and go to the OR or see your outpatients in clinic.

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TheresaS3D Newbie

TheresaS3D

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I have never once seens staff come in for a lap appy....ever. The junior and senior resident can do it. The only time I've ever seen staff come in was for this pregnant lady's c-section...because she had pancreatitis (hence why gen surg was involved). As a resident, most of your time will be 'in house' and sometimes you will stay 'post-call' until 6 or 7. But generally you can (and should) leave at noon the following day. And usually you get some sleep (unless you are at Sunnybrook...in which case they have a 24 hour coffee shop).

 

Theresa

 

p.s. to answer your previous question, I'm thinking general surgery or orthopedics

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andros Newbie

andros

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I have never once seens staff come in for a lap appy....ever.

 

I don't disagree that the residents can handle a lap appy without staff assistance, but things must be different at different institutions. During my gen surg rotations I think the attending always came in to the hospital when there was a case. Sometimes they weren't actually in the OR, but they were around (in the lounge, etc) if needed.

 

Also, it depends on where you're working. If you're not at an academic centre, obviously you're gonna have to come in for things when you're on call. But, the community lifestyle can be quite manageable depending on where you're practicing and how many other surgeons there are to dilute the call schedule.

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Ollie Newbie

Ollie

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I have never once seens staff come in for a lap appy....ever. The junior and senior resident can do it. The only time I've ever seen staff come in was for this pregnant lady's c-section...because she had pancreatitis (hence why gen surg was involved). As a resident, most of your time will be 'in house' and sometimes you will stay 'post-call' until 6 or 7. But generally you can (and should) leave at noon the following day. And usually you get some sleep (unless you are at Sunnybrook...in which case they have a 24 hour coffee shop).

 

Theresa

 

p.s. to answer your previous question, I'm thinking general surgery or orthopedics

 

Aren't you in 2nd year? I don't know that your limited experience allows you to make these statements. On my surgery rotation, I never saw the staff NOT come for a night/weekend OR. As ffp mentioned above, yes the residents will usually do most of the straight-forward procedures, but the staff would be taking a pretty serious risk if they weren't at least in the building.

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Kirsteen Newbie

Kirsteen

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Hey there,

 

Just to add a tidbit from the west, same thing here in Calgary re: attendings being in attendance for lap appys. In fact, the last one I saw in the middle of the night, the attending managed to injure the senior resident during the procedure. :eek:

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

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Kirsteen Newbie

Kirsteen

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Hey,

 

Was the senior resident injured on purpose???

Hi there,

 

No, it was an accident. The attending accidentally grabbed his finger with one of the instruments which pulled off a patch of skin, clean through the double gloves. It wasn't good-looking.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

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Rome Newbie

Rome

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Considering how demanding Gen Surgery as a speciality, how much easier would you say the lifestyle become once you're done? I don't imagine it gets better if one decides to do community gen surgery where there aren't any residents to help out.

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Kirsteen Newbie

Kirsteen

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Considering how demanding Gen Surgery as a speciality, how much easier would you say the lifestyle become once you're done? I don't imagine it gets better if one decides to do community gen surgery where there aren't any residents to help out.

Hi there,

 

In tertiary care centres at least, it certainly seems that the lifestyle is a little better, i.e., attendings generally don't do crack-of-dawn rounds and call is a little more reasonable, i.e., less frequent than in residency and fewer activities required when on call since the resident team can take care of most admissions.

 

As for community Gen Surg, yes, it can be a little more demanding due to the smaller practice sizes and less concomitant support for call, etc.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

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andros Newbie

andros

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I just finished a community gen surg rotation. I was pleasantly surprised with the lifestyle. My preceptor has a good set up as there are 4 general surgeons in the area to spread out the call. His hours are more than manageable (aside from call which can be hit or miss), but he does have to round on his in patients (if he has any) every day because they don't sign out their patients to the surgeon on call for the weekend.

 

Your lifestyle all depends on where you are and how many other surgeons there are. When I did family med, I assisted with a lap chole. That surgeon was one of 2 so his normal call schedule was 1 in 2 (ugh!) but the other surgeon was on vacation so he was on call all day and night for a week straight!!

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TheresaS3D Newbie

TheresaS3D

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Aren't you in 2nd year? I don't know that your limited experience allows you to make these statements. On my surgery rotation, I never saw the staff NOT come for a night/weekend OR. As ffp mentioned above, yes the residents will usually do most of the straight-forward procedures, but the staff would be taking a pretty serious risk if they weren't at least in the building.

 

yes, im in second year, but I'm just stating what I my experience has been. if you had a different experience, fine. Im wondering where you did your surgery rotation? I have seen staff at St. Mikes and Sunnybrook stay overnight for weekend trauma call. However, at Mt. Sinai it was mostly as I stated above.

Also thank you for your opinion and comment. I found it quite interesting.

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TheresaS3D Newbie

TheresaS3D

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Do you do call as a second year med student? I'm not familiar with U of T's curriculum.

 

its not part of the curriculum, but you can arrange unofficial (ie non credit) stuff during the school year and summer. from my experience at sunnybrook (on monday), the staff does come in for a lap appy. and for complicated emergency cases they come in everywhere (perforations, etc). i think the point of what i was trying to say before was as staff your call is a lot less intesive than as a resident, and you dont have to do every procedure. if the structure is a 5th year resident, a junior and a med student on call, the staff does not necessarily always (im not saying never) come to the OR for every uncomplicated lap appy. they sometimes do, but sometimes dont.

I think the structure may vary from hospital to hospital, but I would advise you to go any try out an observership for yourself if you want to get an idea. Ask some of the residents and staff about what goes on.

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andros Newbie

andros

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I would advise you to go any try out an observership for yourself if you want to get an idea. Ask some of the residents and staff about what goes on.

 

Thanks for the advice. Considering I just matched to a surgical specialty, I think I'll skip the observerships.

 

Good luck with school.

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