This week I started my General Surgery rotation. The worst part (and really the only drawback) of this rotation is that morning rounds start at 6:30 am. Other than that, I am loving being back on a surgical rotation!
Here are 10 reasons why Surgery is better than Medicine (at least in my opinion):
1. Rounds do not last for 4 or more hours straight.
2. It is very task oriented: “Here is the problem and this is how we will fix it…”
3. “AVSS” is an acceptable acronym to write in your notes (Afebrile, Vital Signs Stable).
4. You can focus on and develop specific surgical skills, and there is a great amount of satisfaction when you perfect something.
5. There is a certain level of “awesome” stress and adrenaline rush when something unpredictable happens.
6. You get to wear scrubs most days of the week.
7. You don’t have to worry about your hair (because it is under a scrub cap most of the time)
8. Wearing awesome patterned scrub caps.
9. You get to put your hands “inside” of people.
10. There is a certain “Je ne sais pas” about surgery culture, both in and out of the OR.
Don’t get me wrong, Medicine is an important part of, well, Medicine… It’s just really not for me. I think Internists are probably some of the smartest people around and without them, we would be screwed. I am pretty sure that all the things I love about surgery are probably some of the biggest things that Medicine oriented people hate about surgery. Regardless, I’m just happy that there are people who are genuinely interested in going into Medical specialties so that people like me can feel good about being interested in surgery.
I am not fond of surgery, but this past year I did almost exclusively surgical rotations so I’ve grown to appreciate it a little bit more. A lot of those are reasons I quite like anesthesia (except for putting your hands inside people…).And there is nothing, NOTHING as beautiful in all of med/surg as a well-done neck dissection.
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I think anesthesia is pretty cool, but I think I would get bored. I like being busy… all the time.
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I’m super happy to hear that people who lovely (thinking, feeling) human beings are going into surgery. Sometimes I think so many of them are emotionless cogs… Also, it’s hilarious you say #3. The other day, when we were learning how to examine the heart/lungs, our clinical skills doc told us “and here is the one-stop-shop orthopedic surgeon point” (holding the stethoscope on the bottom ribs) — “where you can hear heart, lungs, and bowel sounds all at once”. 😉
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Haha! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the one stop shop point… I’ll have to give it a try sometime! I’m sure surgery is the best rotation to try it out.
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