sitting surgical specialty?

[notstudying]

Hello folks,

I need some help in finding out on surgical specialities that do not require extensive standing.

I always wanted to be a surgeon since entering medical school but hurted my back from an accident during medical school.

I still want to pursue a surgical specialty but knowing that most require long periods of standing (which I cannot do for more than ~2 hrs), what are some options besides giving up on surgical specialty?

[CdnatWayne]

Ophthalmology.

[tooty]

lots of procedures in ENT.

[futureGP]

hmm.. how about urology?

[thebouque]

hmm.. how about urology?

 

No you stand up in uro

[D-Rock]

ENT often has you standing for 5 or more hours consecutively. Not a great choice for residency, although you could tailor your career to short procedures after finishing residency.

 

If you really can't manage more than 2 hours, it will be tough to do any surgical specialty because nearly all of them require prolonged standing and awkward positioning. Plus, no matter what you pick, you will have off-service rotations that require it.

[Guest Fresh_Underwear]

To add to what has already been mentioned, some plastic (depending on what area of specialization) can be largely performed sitting. I've witnessed a handful (pun intended) of hand and ear surgeries and they're all done seated.

 

In general, surgery is almost all standing profession.

[A-Stark]

hmm.. how about urology?

 

You certainly don't want to be sitting while doing cystos...

 

Anyway, it will be very difficult to pursue a surgical career if you're unable to stand for long periods. I actually know a gen surg resident who had to switch to radiology because he developed an orthopedic problem of some kind.

 

Standing a lot is pretty much a part of most fields in medicine, at least during the training (and rounding...). But if you're concerned about having to stand for a multi-hour case and still want to be in the OR, you should consider anesthesia. Just need to get up now and then to fiddle with the volatiles or push some phenylephrine, and then can go back to stretching out in a chair under a blanket you acquired from the warmer.

[notstudying]

thanks everyone for the input

i guess i need to do some career planning

[Karma]

ORL!

 

 

10 char

[rmorelan]

I great deal of gynecology surgery is done sitting down. Plus they are usually short procedures in any case.

[coastalslacker]

Hand as well as Foot and Ankle for Ortho. That said, if you can't stand for along time you'd crash and burn in residency.

[NLengr]

Hand as well as Foot and Ankle for Ortho. That said, if you can't stand for along time you'd crash and burn in residency.

 

Also, you need to bench a decent 150 at least before they even look at you for residency.....

 

Somewhat regular conversation in my ER:

 

Random nurse/doc: "Are you Ortho?"

Me: "Does Ortho look like this?" (flexes poorly developed arms)

Random nurse/doc: "I guess not"

[afsmak27]

Derm. Lots of procedures, not really totally huge surgical except for good ol Mohs, and you can sit all the time.

 

Haha. Derm isn't a "surgical" specialty last time I checked.

[BoyInTheBubble]

And unless your gym is in kilos, 150 bench is not decent.

 

 

 

(**assuming this was written by a he not she)

[coastalslacker]

And unless your gym is in kilos, 150 bench is not decent.

 

 

 

(**assuming this was written by a he not she)

 

I assume he was quoting the she requirement.

[thebouque]

150 for a female is gross

[aaronjw]

150 for a female is gross

 

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=oR7w_JvwGrU&feature=related

 

Yaba daba doo

[ploughboy]

Anyway, it will be very difficult to pursue a surgical career if you're unable to stand for long periods...

Standing a lot is pretty much a part of most fields in medicine, at least during the training (and rounding...).

 

Indeed. Even if you find a surgical specialty that fits your interest and aptitude, you will still have to survive residency. As an off-service scut monkey on ortho and trauma, I was routinely on my feet for 12+ hours at a time on a 36 hour call shift. I don't mean I was busy for 12 hours in a row, I mean I was so busy I didn't have a chance to *sit down* for 12 hours straight.

 

It was worse for the on-service scut monkeys ("you're post call, so why don't you scrub in for this case?"). Choose your career wisely.

[NLengr]

Indeed. Even if you find a surgical specialty that fits your interest and aptitude, you will still have to survive residency. As an off-service scut monkey on ortho and trauma, I was routinely on my feet for 12+ hours at a time on a 36 hour call shift. I don't mean I was busy for 12 hours in a row, I mean I was so busy I didn't have a chance to *sit down* for 12 hours straight.

 

It was worse for the on-service scut monkeys ("you're post call, so why don't you scrub in for this case?"). Choose your career wisely.

 

Trauma at your center was busy? At mine it was a joke. Just managing inpatients who really only needed coordination of services like PT and the occasional minor medical problem.

 

There would be trauma codes, but it wasn't like 3/day or something. Some OR's but they weren't that common.

[ploughboy]

Trauma at your center was busy? At mine it was a joke. Just managing inpatients who really only needed coordination of services like PT and the occasional minor medical problem.

 

There would be trauma codes, but it wasn't like 3/day or something. Some OR's but they weren't that common.

 

To clarify, although I was on trauma the on call junior also covered the regular general surgery patients and a couple of teams worth of oncology patients, plus had to do ED consults. Weekend call kinda sucked. I'm getting tired and my feet feel sore just remembering it.

[A-Stark]

That sounds like Sunnybrook...

[notstudying]

Derm. Lots of procedures, not really totally huge surgical except for good ol Mohs, and you can sit all the time.

actually you just gave me an idea

 

since it seems like i won't be able to survive R1 or R2 (lots of standing) even if i do get into one of sitting surgical specialties, what are some procedure heavy specialties besides surgery?

 

and THANK YOU everyone for you input!

This really means a lot to me

[A-Stark]

Well, there aren't many where you get to sit down either for procedures or during residency. Anesthesia is possible, but there will still be much standing and it isn't any less demanding as a residency than internal medicine.

 

The only rotations where I've ever sat down for the majority of time were in psych and family med.

[Lactic Folly]

If you like working with your hands, can you fulfill that outside of work through an avocation?

 

Otherwise, the only thing I can think of is dentistry, which is less helpful at your stage.