Satsuma Posted April 29, 2008 Report Share Posted April 29, 2008 My statement of "routine work" may have been an overgeneralization but you, yourself admitted that it is a big part of what they do, so my point is upheld. I just want to comment on the idea of routine work. I am someone who generally does not like repetitive things...things that are routine. And this has played a big part in trying to select my future specialization. You hear all the time...people saying they think that family practice is boring and you see all the same stuff all the time, which they then go on to list such things as colds etc. But going through my rotations, I really believe that in medicine, everything will become routine. Each specialty has their bread and butter cases. So if you go into gen surg, hope you like appendectomies, cholecystectomies and hernia repairs...obgyn, hope you like c-sections and hysterectomies...internal, hope you like managing HTN, diabetes and COPD etc. You just have to find the area where hopefully, you like the routine stuff you see. Now family docs actually have the more challenging job...pts don`t come in with their dx plastered on their forehead, they come in with a vague complaint of chest pain or headache or abdo pain. Each of these complaints can be so many things...some life threatning and some benign. It is the family doc that generally has to start sorting out these undifferentiated patients. And to some people that is the interesting part of medicine. By the time the pt sees a specialist...if in fact they need to see one...the family doc has already ruled out so many things. Now specialists may see the more challenging and interesting cases in their small area. But it comes at a sacrifice...if you want to get all the interesting epilepsy cases and get really good at it...then that is all you will be doing with your career. So which approach is more routine? Hard to say. I think all areas of medicine become routine. And you just need to be comfortable with and interested in the routine things you will be seeing. One of my preceptors liked to joke that it is always the last doctor to see a pt who looks the smartest when he/she makes the diagnosis...but by the time the pt sees that doctor so many things have already been ruled out. That is my rant on routine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolvenstar Posted April 29, 2008 Report Share Posted April 29, 2008 Oh I completely argee with everything you say, your descriptions of the differences between FPs and other specialists are exact, and I can agree that in your deffinition of challenging, you are correct. But you do understand where I am comming from with my description of what makes one specialty harder than another right? Please tell me at least one other person than Ollie actually read that part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastalslacker Posted April 29, 2008 Report Share Posted April 29, 2008 Oh I completely argee with everything you say, your descriptions of the differences between FPs and other specialists are exact, and I can agree that in your deffinition of challenging, you are correct. But you do understand where I am comming from with my description of what makes one specialty harder than another right? Please tell me at least one other person than Ollie actually read that part. I read your definition of what makes one specialty more challenging. Good for you. As a rule of thumb, when offering advice or engaging in debate I tend to stick to things I actually know about. I don't subscribe to intellectual democracy-all ideas are not created equal, nor are all opinions. The further away I get from what I know, the more I tend to sound silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stesha Posted April 30, 2008 Report Share Posted April 30, 2008 wow, coastalslacker is hyper!! take it easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stesha Posted April 30, 2008 Report Share Posted April 30, 2008 Wolvenstar, I DO agree with what you are saying and understand exactly where you are coming from. Good for you for sticking up for your point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuma Posted April 30, 2008 Report Share Posted April 30, 2008 Oh I completely argee with everything you say, your descriptions of the differences between FPs and other specialists are exact, and I can agree that in your deffinition of challenging, you are correct. But you do understand where I am comming from with my description of what makes one specialty harder than another right? Please tell me at least one other person than Ollie actually read that part. I wasn`t commenting on your definition of challenging....I was commenting on what is considered routine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolvenstar Posted April 30, 2008 Report Share Posted April 30, 2008 I know I am just hoping that somebody bothered to read my entire post.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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