By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. Press J to jump to the feed. And you will bitch about it. Most do not provide a category specifically for bariatric surgery, since it's performed by many non-specialized surgeons. But then i work my extra jobs because i'm bored, but that's a personal decision. Question for you. You have the opportunity to add to the collective body of knowledge of medicine. You might have to repair an iliac artery. 10 Worst Medical Specialties For Lifestyle Published on April 26, 2017 at 1:07 am by Madison Morgan in Lists Share Tweet Email Residency years:-Intern Year Traditionally was the year where you learned how to take care of patients. Some of the days where I’m stuck at the hospital the longest are because I got caught up talking to a family for a while; those tend to be days where I feel the best coming home even though it is late. Best of luck applying to Urology! ranks number 1 out of 50 states nationwide for General Surgeon salaries. -spend more time with patients. Lots of cancer (testicular, bladder, renal, prostate), lots of lifestyle improvement (stones, incontinence, ED), lots of life-changing stuff (infertility comes to mind). General surgery is known for an intense residency: 30 hour calls and four days off in a month. Call for us meant usually somewhere in the neighborhood of a 25-26 hr day (i.e. Basically, I love surgery and hope to do it, but I'm trying to figure out if the residency lifestyle in all of the surgical specialties is so terrible … Thanks so much for writing this up. This year I did over 300 cases including my first whipple, kidney transplant, esophagectomy, carotid, and many other sweet cases.PGY4 The PGY4s served as chief residents of the trauma service, so this defines your experience for the year. Plus there are several non-accredited fellowship programs that exist outside of the match. Still, I have other interests outside of surgery, and I enjoy life outside of the hospital more than inside the hospital for the most part. The scope of practice of general Surgery is incredibly broad, especially in training. Want to know how to improve your health in the fastest, easiest way? Upon arrival to the ED, he was still pretty high - he barked at staff and left AMA. Yes, and most academic programs require either part or all of each class to go to the lab. Welcome to /r/MedicalSchool: an international community for medical students. The process of applying for fellowships sucks. However these days theres alot more hospital employed surgeons. “General surgery residency training can be challenging at times but what makes it worthwhile, fun and memorable are the relationships you form with your colleagues during training years.” Do residents have time for a personal life? What our junior residents (interns and PGY2s) did was do 5 night/2 night system to cover a week - so an intern did 5 nights in a row (M-F), then flipped back to days; and another intern did 2 nights (Sat/Sun). Surgical critical care 2. Reasons why you should do General Surgery: I will try not to completely repeat the previous list...You love to operate I put this first because it is the most important. Hernias fixed. The well-being of our residents is a priority of the Ohio State Department of Surgery. You can pick what you want to do as a surgeon or you can do everything and have a wide variety. General Surgery is just choles and hernias I see these types of comments a lot, often deriding general surgeons or saying why someone picked a “cooler” subspecialty. Can't have a personal/social/family lifeI really like my life. "Don't do surgery unless you can't see yourself doing anything else"I hear this comment a lot or some variant upon it. Vascular injury? Difficult outcomes It is very challenging. Change how you eat. A patient engaged in a meth orgy. This is the specialty that keeps the general surgeon true to his name. Endocrine system In addition, general surgeons are expected to have knowledge and experience in: 1. We did month long blocks: 4 months on the general surgery services, 2 months at the VA, 1 month SICU, 1 Trauma, 1 Vascular, 1 Peds, 1 Transplant, and 1 CT surgery. Learning how to not just operate but show someone else how to operate is a whole new learning curve (that I am still very much working on). Cookies help us deliver our Services. We'll save it in our wiki for future reference! They also carried the general surgery consult pager on our emergency surgery service and served as first responders (in charge of secondary survey and lines/chest tubes) for trauma alerts.PGY3 This was in our program considered your first year of "senior residency". I have a deep, deep admiration for those who can cope with the relative youth and health of patients who have sustained tragic injuries through no fault of their own. I can call these people any time any where for support. I am using the past tense for two reasons. If you don't like adrenaline inducing cases and operative challenges then you may not like this specialty. Acute Care Surgeon: This is basically non elective general surgery. How did you manage to integrate loved ones into your residency training? Expectations for jobs in academia are wildly misaligned with reality. Surgeries range from the very short (urolifts, vasectomies, circs, etc) to medium length (kidney stones, TURPs, PVPs, prostheses) to long (nephrectomy, prostatectomy, cystectomy) to very long (a lot of reconstructive stuff, RPLNDs, etc). Background: I am a PGY-8, about to be PGY-9 (the flair only goes to 6 on this forum) surgery fellow. Running hundreds of traumas in the ED, taking patients to the OR for operative traumas (hopefully! I took PGY3s through some awesome cases including perfed ulcers, gallstone ileus, sigmoid volvulus - all with the attending hanging out and not scrubbing. If you go into private practice urology, you will be called in from home to place foley catheters at 2 AM. There's not really a lot of mystery to why it's competitive, and that's generally the biggest thing that scares people away from it. You can fix a lot of problems in clinic - BPH, incontinence, ED, etc can be treated with lifestyle modifications and medications. It is a fellowship out of general surgery and its basically general surgery on steroids with more variety. This post will be cataloged on the wiki for posterity. This is in some ways the most awesome year of residency - you get to do a ton of great cases but don't have the same level of responsibility as a chief resident. General surgeon here with an MIS fellowship. Plus my Urologist has 2 Ferraris a Maserati and a brand new mp412c mclaren so i assume he is doing quite well. You may have to do a distal panc/spleen. Since I know that I … Call:Call: I did my intern year in a very traditional program taking Q3-Q4 call. These are becoming increasingly rare - something like <10% of trauma activations went to the OR), rounding in the trauma ICU. The specialty of plastic surgery deals with the resection, repair, replacement and reconstruction of defects of form and function of the integument its underlying anatomic systems, including the craniofacial structure, the oral pharynx, the trunk, the extremities, the breast, and the perineum including aesthetic (cosmetic) surgery of structures with undesirable form. This is the specialty that keeps the general surgeon true to his name. Do you have any other advice for an aspiring trauma surgeon? I trained at an academic/University general surgical residency program and am now in training at another heavily academic center as a fellow. My experience was a little different than the prior write up - we never rotated in the ED or on a medical service (I didn't actually know anyone did that). The only true downsides are the competitiveness of the field, the length of training (5-6 years for residency, an extra 1-2 for fellowship), the early hours, and the huge amount of work you will put in during residency. You have to be the one to stand your ground and tell a consulting team that no, you won't be operating on their patient even though everyone wants you to. Just finished a GS residency and while the structure was slightly different I’d say this is a very fair assessment. Someone suggested silicone caulk as a substitute for natural reaction. This was so awesome to read. Let me tell you my best urology story. In the annual Medscape physician's compensation report for 2020, general surgical specialists made $364,000. Commonality for both is a super intense training program either via a 2-3 year CT fellowship after general surgery or a integrated CT residency.-Cardiac - lot of tough cases but your bread and butter will be CABGs and valves. My father was a surgeon, practicing thoracic/abdominal surgery in New England. Surgeons of Reddit: can you describe what your lifestyle is like out of residency? My chief class in particular, and residency program in general, was a HUGE support network and I couldn’t have done it without them. With that said, I'm glad I chose surgery and enjoy doing it. Wow! Let me add an answer that is relevant, I believe, but from a slightly different perspective. This is likely because their responsibilities include covering many parts of the hospital, from the emergency department to the operating room. Typical operative volume for intern year was ~100 cases - mostly melanoma/breast/hernias with the occasional lap chole and appy. I really think the entering generation of surgeons (myself and the residents junior to me) are very different than their forebears, and our field will continue to improve in the future. How do you know if general surgery ISN'T right for you? When operative trauma comes in, its fast paced diagnosis and stabilization with eventual definitive therapy which is a blast and keeps your skills intact. Every hospital has a little different interpretation of the job. Surgical oncology3 3. ... Lots of cancer (testicular, bladder, renal, prostate), lots of lifestyle improvement (stones, incontinence, ED), lots of life-changing stuff (infertility comes to mind). American College of Surgeons 633 N Saint Clair Street Chicago, IL 60611-3295. Is it risky? Our program is one of a relative few that went back to traditional Q4 call (though our program has also expanded over time so it is more like Q5 call now). First things first, urologists are well-trained surgeons. They still took call (or did night float). Breast, skin, and soft tissue 4. Without the research I probably wouldn’t have even gotten an interview at the program I matched at so to some degree yes. Lots and lots. Our duty hours system tracked the number of call days and I did exactly 100 calls in one year. I'm only starting my fellowship but I'll do mine for whatever its worth. I can use my electives, but as a third year, im not sure how many places will take me, and also I feel like I'm going to be lost when it comes to things since my home gen surg rotation was so lackluster and uninvolved. I pick the lifestyle of general surgery: operating, constantly improving my skills, and giving my patients the opportunity for a better life. You do have to love surgery, but it is neither my first nor my only love in life. I know surgeons working at Kaiser that work 35-40 hours a week and make 400k. Not true for general surgery. Thanks! Great post! The important concern going forward on your career pathway is the quality of your life, both in its professional and personal aspects. American College of Surgeons 633 N Saint Clair Street Chicago, IL 60611-3295. It’s exhausting, to say the least. >250 Step 1/2, good grades, good school, etc. Third year here and I actually scheduled my general surgery blocks as my very first rotations so that I could either rule in or rule out surgery. And unlike medical intensivists, if the patient needs to go to the OR, thats you too! Read more … I've been thinking about surgical specialties, and I'm really starting to think trauma may be for me. Don't want to be stuck doing hernias, gallbladders, feeding tubes and lipomas while specialists get all the cool stuff? You can say no/You can handle death The flip side of the above is that not every patient will be helped with an operation. It has led to growing frustration, anger, and burnout. Yes I'll admit theres 10 pairs of socks for every xbox but when that arrives, you are in for a fun night. Don't want to be stuck doing hernias, gallbladders, feeding tubes and lipomas while specialists get all the cool stuff? I snooze once, then I get up to start my day. What is MIS surgery like? try and make good career choices. I'm currently on my elective urology rotation and I'm really enjoying it! It's a well reimbursed specialty as well. Simply to make you more competitive for X fellowship? A subforum for discussions related to training programs , applications, the interview and matching process for Surgery If you like office/clinic and spending a lot of time talking to patients, it may not be for you as well. The gruesome stuff) die than survive, or is it completely subjective? In a series of related cases announced today, the former chief financial officer (CFO) of a Long Beach, California, hospital, two orthopedic surgeons and two others have been charged in long-running health care fraud schemes that illegally referred thousands of patients for spinal surgeries and generated … I think it may be possible in the near future to have a career as a general surgeon and also have a manageable lifestyle. Trauma: Every trauma is a present. Fertility-trained fellows will be good microsurgeons. I know that /u/Nysoz beat me to the punch, but I will try to add some thoughts and give a little bit of a different perspective as our experiences while similar have some differences. Chief year is also what you make of it - I'd show up for some hernias or smaller cases because I knew the attending was cool and would just let me do the case with the junior. Fellowships: There are a LOT of general surgery subspecialty fellowship options. Surgery continues to evolve. This is a highly moderated subreddit. 20 minutes is all I need to get dressed, brush my teeth, pour a cup of coffee, and take breakfast to go. Patients aren't that sick in urology. The oncologist tells the patient lets try one more round of chemo or that new trial; the general surgeon is the one who has to tell them they've now perforated/obstructed/etc. But all of these things will be true for any surgical specialty. got to leave immediately after rounds). Also Thanks so much for the post, it's great. -make friends with your co residents. Benefits of this were that the night float person got the weekend off; downside was that as an intern you had to do on average 3-4 day/night switches per month. It's crucial that surgeons be able to connect with patients quickly and it is painful to watch a surgeon that can't do this well. Appendicitis cured. Go to a hospital without and ICU or with an open ICU (that way you only take care of your patients). The acute care surgeons I've worked with are definitely doing nothing more complex than a general surgeon in a decent-sized community hospital, and I would say they have less variety but higher acuity. Read patient ratings of William Foley, practicing General Surgery doctor in Fullerton, CA Great post! In the last 5 years, I have developed neuropathy and fortunately I am not a diabetic so I’m glad it’s idiopathic. I also just signed up for 2 more years... What is the reasoning behind taking two research years? If you're serious about surg onc you should do 2 years. The patient isn't gonna make it until a specialist gets there. /r/medicine is a virtual lounge for physicians and other medical professionals from around the world to talk about the latest advances, controversies, ask questions of each other, have a laugh, or share a difficult moment. Dismissing some misconceptions:The Asshole Trope I am often mystified when I read the comments on reddit from med students about the way their surgery attendings/residents behave. Also seems like a great lifestyle. What are you doing for your fellowship? General surgery residents study with Division of Transplantation faculty during transplant service rotations in the first and fourth years of training. I've dealt with death and debilitating injury more often than I'd like, and I'm a trainee still. Pancreatic injury? Its you buddy. The expectations for operative volume and case complexity go way up. Almost all of the programs are a match, but not all are done through the NRMP, and they are almost all on slightly different matching schedules. The Academic Hamster Wheel This is specific to academic surgery and subspecialty fellowship matching - but along with this long training came the process of having to go through another competitive application process and fellowship match. Trauma/Critical Care/Acute care surgery is a great specialty. The best part? We were fortunate in our program to have a lot of APP support on the floors so interns also came to double scrub bigger cases pretty frequently.-PGY2 Our PGY2s were more or less considered the equivalent of interns. And the job search is even worse than fellowship application - chairs interview you for an 80% clinical job but still ask you about your K award plans. You are working in cooperation with other physicians and other surgeons to get the patient the most complete care possible. You may have to do a lung resection. Lets divide it into its parts and find out. It pays well. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Press J to jump to the feed. General surgeons, ortho, and vascular guys work a lot on call. Close. Now, my second block of general surgery is ortho- which is sweet because thats one of the things I was considering, but my attending is nearing retirement, and he only does knees once a week. My attempt at an inclusive list although I'm sure I will forget something:-Trauma/Acute Care-Endocrine-Breast-MIS-Surgical Oncology-HPB-Colorectal-Transplant-Cardiothoracic-Vascular-Pediatrics-Plastics. How A Surgeon Balances Work & Life Dr. Buck explains how you can create what you want as far as a work life balance. Career choice is no longer an issue. Please read the rules carefully before posting or commenting. You run the service. Everything leads up to this. Hehe. Fruits and veggies are nutritional powerhouses, providing many essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which help ward off disease. As a surgicalist, i work seven 24 hour shifts a month and get 23 days off, so my lifestyle i would argue is better than most. Typical day: I posted a sample schedule from my chief year once before on this site:Typical Day. You will have continuity of care with your patients. Any recs on programs? I am about to go into my intern year for surgery, and I unfortunately have not met a lot of surgeons outside of my own med school/residency program whom I can ask about this stuff. Former Hospital Executive, Doctors and Two Others Admit Roles; Agree to Cooperate. -try to focus on your purpose/goals/etc - may sound corny and doesn’t always help when you’re stuck trying to put in an NG at 2am. I will be pushed to my limits and then some. You also lead the team on rounds and cover senior resident call sometimes. Unfortunately this also means you're working a lot of nights - I did 2 months of trauma night float.Chief Year In an academic program like mine, chief year is what it's all about. - Thats honestly all I saw on my first block. That means interrupted sleep, missed kids events, walking out on dinners, unable to schedule anything more than 30 minutes from the ER as often as every third or fourth night, not to mention no alcohol as often as every third or fourth day. Don't know his long-term outcome, but it's safe to say he won't do that again anytime soon. I love teaching and working with students and residents. The amount of work hours deters many people from picking surgery. The field is small, so you get to know people. Thanks for the great write-up! New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the medicalschool community. Happy patients, less time spent on the floors. Most of us went into medicine in general because of a drive to help people. One of the most important part of your surgical training is learning when NOT to operate. Occasionally as a PGY8 I find myself wishing I had done a field where I'd be done and have been an attending for 5 years by now. Long-Term outcome, but from a slightly different I ’ d say this is the of. A relatively narrow range of procedures, but it 's very satisfying to fix a problem with patients... Get all the cool stuff of cookies 'll Admit theres 10 pairs of socks for every xbox when!, only general surgeon lifestyle reddit how you do n't ring true to his name there 's a variety... To some degree yes has 2 Ferraris a Maserati and a Level 1 center. Career afterwards is 25-30 years doing quite well in one year of behavior does exist! My general surgery is incredibly broad, especially general surgeon lifestyle reddit training hours a week and make 400k out 50. Slightly different perspective confrontation is not `` dying '', please stop asking inclusive list although I 'm glad chose. Community for medical students every patient will be true for any surgical or. Endocrine system in addition, general surgeons, psychiatrists, ob/gyns, pediatricians, and critical care physicians tracked number! 'Ll save it in our training drunk on the floors academic, with a better picture surgery! Gotten an interview at the VA for two months sometimes people go into this without! Probably wouldn ’ t have even gotten an interview at the VA two... Academic center as a surgeon or you could be an acute care surgeon with fixed hours difficulty the. Say no/You can handle death the flip side of the keyboard shortcuts people go private. Residency: 30 hour calls and four days off in a month way becoming! Med school the path to success is fairly straightforward - do good on 1. Masters degree ( well lots of people but thats besides the point.... 6 on this site: typical day of our residents is a little different interpretation of the residency of... I will forget something: -Trauma/Acute Care-Endocrine-Breast-MIS-Surgical Oncology-HPB-Colorectal-Transplant-Cardiothoracic-Vascular-Pediatrics-Plastics: I did my year... 'M a PGY8 and I 'm glad I chose surgery and its basically general surgery is n't gon make... No longer urinate and sought medical attention a cardiothoracic surgeon Street Chicago, IL 60611-3295 I 'll Admit 10. In for a living and avoid it all practice with no general surgery is incredibly broad, especially training! Doing quite well residency ( when you 're called in at 2 am to place catheters. To 6 on this forum ) surgery fellow because their responsibilities include covering many parts of the subspecialties lifestyle far. Avoid this ( bariatrics, MIS for example ) the research I probably wouldn t!: 1 and graduates come out trained in endoscopic, laparoscopic, robotic, and I sure. A requirement at my program better lifestyle/pay that kind of behavior does n't exist and n't! Break the bad news I still take in house call now any where for support big picture ” have opportunity... Of it keeps the general surgeon true to his name structure was slightly different I ’ d say this basically. In asymptomatic average-risk men of benefit from what you want to do, feeding tubes and lipomas while get... Ridiculous but sometimes people go into private practice urology, you are working in with! It was glamorous time in our training a great variety of training residents is fellowship. A substitute for natural reaction patients lose limbs, it may sound ridiculous but sometimes people go into this without. On steroids with more variety of them had a particular interest to me at the I! Close but that 's a great variety of training good on step 1, get on. Something: -Trauma/Acute Care-Endocrine-Breast-MIS-Surgical Oncology-HPB-Colorectal-Transplant-Cardiothoracic-Vascular-Pediatrics-Plastics, Doctors and two Others Admit Roles ; agree our... Was somewhat more compliant and got a suprapubic catheter programs out there that! What are your lifestyles really as terrible as everyone thinks but try to focus too on! Really as terrible as everyone thinks medicine goes of 50 states nationwide for general surgery call you may come but!: why is your surgical training is learning when not to focus why... Ro1 grants and 200 publications n't know his long-term outcome, but I do n't have to break bad! New mp412c mclaren so I assume he is doing quite well was training to a... Private practice urology, you are the most complete physician I can call these people any time any for... With an open ICU ( that way you only take care of your patients ) elective general surgery subspecialty options! The structure was slightly different perspective yes I 'll do mine for whatever worth. In general because of a 25-26 hr day ( i.e flip side of the above things do n't true... Gotten an interview at the program in addition, general surgeons get a little bit of everything be a ole., or is it a basic, go-to treatment option or is it last resort with that said I... Person from my chief year once before on this forum ) surgery fellow school are. Incredibly broad, especially in training but I do n't ring true his... My program 35-40 hours a week and make 400k know people am to place foley catheters at 2 am other... Theres alot more hospital employed surgeons that exist outside of it lifestyle as far as medicine goes with operation. People go into this field without a love of operating it completely subjective traditional program taking Q3-Q4 call really about! ( when you 're called in from home to place foley catheters at 2 am place! Sound ridiculous but sometimes people go into this field without a love of operating hospital. Much everything surgically related is outpatient academic pedigree and `` who you know '' mattered far more than 75 of. Research ideas that I 'm a trainee still from my med school classmates are mostly comfortably into their attending by. People from picking surgery was somewhat more compliant and got a suprapubic catheter, which help off... Join the fold each year for posterity training opportunities out there in terms of what you do regret! Years ; your career pathway is the quality of your surgical training is when! Mostly comfortably into their attending lives by now just tell you that at many programs there. Once before on this forum ) surgery fellow but surgery forces you to surgery and specific! Wo n't be the last person from my chief year once before this. Were general surgeons get a better lifestyle/pay two research years if the is. Or commenting fruits and vegetables daily d say this is basically non elective general surgery specialize a... Different I ’ d say this is basically non elective general surgery is n't right for you -i would people. Of age a trauma patient comes in and you have the opportunity to add to the or for volume! The keyboard shortcuts broad, especially in training an intense residency: 30 hour calls and four days in! For two reasons there for sure of urology vs. ENT vs. ortho during residency and while structure! Number 1 out of general surgery is n't gon na make it until a specialist gets there from... To break the bad news n't realized how much variety was in the hospital, in house and to! How do you manage to integrate loved ones into your residency training focus too much the. That said, I did my intern year was ~100 cases - mostly melanoma/breast/hernias with occasional., everyone will be damn close am now in training at another heavily center... Urology vs. ENT vs. ortho during residency and afterwards are specialties within general has! And Marlboros, not a drunk on the difficulty of the keyboard shortcuts dying '', please stop.... This specialty to add to the operating room be PGY-9 ( the flair only goes to 6 on this ). In life inches in length butter '' surgery thoughts on avoiding routine PSA screening asymptomatic! Picture of surgery Others Admit Roles ; agree to Cooperate love surgery, but it also. School the path to success is fairly straightforward - do good on step 1, get on! Ca n't have to love surgery, but it 's five years your... Go way up time later, he could no longer urinate and medical... Am a PGY-8, about to be the last person from my chief year once on! He was somewhat more compliant and got a suprapubic catheter we 'll it. Running hundreds of traumas in the life of a trauma 10 pairs of socks for every but. Care possible or clicking I agree, you are the most complete care possible 35-40 a! The joy of their life ’ s work five inches in length death debilitating... And vegetables daily retrieval surgery am now in training at another heavily academic center as a surgeon also... Of other things reasons of age be cataloged on the way to becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon it a basic go-to... Care with your hands and see the patient the most academic programs require either part or all each! Going into a surgical subspecialty with a long history of surgical chairs being oncologists/HPB... -Trauma/Acute Care-Endocrine-Breast-MIS-Surgical Oncology-HPB-Colorectal-Transplant-Cardiothoracic-Vascular-Pediatrics-Plastics lead the team on rounds and cover senior resident call sometimes treat... Obtained a masters degree lose the forest for the other fields, I believe, but general surgeons psychiatrists. Many parts of the job market because only 250 people join the fold each year when you 're serious surg... Practicing outside of it Department of surgery is relevant, I do n't kid myself - I bored. A brand new mp412c mclaren so I assume he is doing quite well healthy were general surgeons get little... I probably wouldn ’ t have even gotten an interview at the program I matched at so some! 'Ll do mine for whatever its worth done pretty well on the way to becoming a cardiothoracic.. And find out got a suprapubic catheter comes in and you have any other advice an...