Residency

RSS
Email

0 Kudo

Forum Jump

Author	Comment
MedicalMAn	Residency	Lead	[-]
Posts: 10 (10/20/05 19:24:41) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Tags : None Ive been wanted to become a heart surgeon for years, im just wondering what has to been done in med school in order to achieve this
leviathan	Re:	#1	[-]
Posts: 488 (10/20/05 22:46:55) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	So, what aspects of cardiothoracic surgery appeal to you? No offense, but if you're not even in medical school and haven't even seen general surg in clerkships, how can you say that you want to be a certain type of doctor? Sorry if I sound like I'm attacking you, I'd just like to know what your reasoning was as I hear this all the time from pre-meds who talk about their desires to enter X sub-sub-subspecialty seemingly for the only reason that it sounds very spiffy. (Yes, I said spiffy.)
MedicalMAn	Re: Residency	#2	[-]
Posts: 10 (10/21/05 14:07:25) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Well i had an uncle who died of a heart attack, that was about 7 years ago, since then i have researched the heart and im amazed of its function and anatomy, everything in the body is dependent on this fist size organ. ive known that ive wanted to be a heart surgeon ever since my uncles death. i have never been so passionate about something in my life
.	Re: Residency	#3	[-]
Posts: 4553 (10/22/05 09:57:30) Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi there, If you're interested in cardiac surgery then, at present, there are two training routes to take post-medical school: 1) enter a general surgery residency and switch to cardiac; 2) enter a cardiac surgery residency directly. At the beginning of medical school I was interested in cardiac surgery and started shadowing cardiac surgeons within my first couple of weeks into first year--a liberty given to medical students which helps provide information surrounding the job occupied by a clinician. If your interest in cardiac surgery persists then you can ask a cardiac surgeon if you can participate in some research with them. You can also complete your electives in cardiac surgery and attend cardiovascular conferences to get a better idea of the latest developments and issues within the field. Medical school offers up some amazing opportunities including exposure to other fields. Some folks enter with an idea of what career path they'd like to follow and end up staying that course through residency, while others enter with little idea and let med school show them the way. It's also not uncommon for folks to enter medical school with an idea of what they'd like to do and find that that idea changes upon exposure to other specialties. Even though you have a strong feeling regarding the path you'd like to take in medicine it will behoove you in many ways to keep your mind open to other specialties. Cheers, Kirsteen
leviathan	re:	#4	[-]
Posts: 488 (10/22/05 10:36:28) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Well said, Kirsteen. I don't blame you for having goals already, and certaintly knowing the physiology and anatomy of the heart is a good start, but as she said, keep your options open. The thing is, the knowledge of the system is still different from pathology, and that's probably still more different than what kind of things you do in clinical practice that apply to that organ system. I am fascinated with endocrinology, but I have heard from friends of mine in the medical field that the actual practice is quite redundant and typical, seeing people with diabetes all day. I am also quite interested in emergency medicine as I work as an emergency medical responder. Before seeing much in the realm of paramedicine, I thought 90% of their responses were to major traumas, serious medical calls, etc.etc., but in reality a good majority of calls are for benign chest pains, falls, syncopal episodes, etc. I was still interested in specializing in EM, but again, I heard that the actual practice of EM is not quite the rush you see on shows like 'ER' and is spent dealing with URIs all day. A lot of times we can understandably have misconceptions about specialties, and the best thing I can recommend is to just wait till med school and figure out which things you like most during 3rd and 4th year, and then see whether cardiac surgery is still something that appeals to you. That's basically what my plan is, and I'll see how things go when I'm in med school.
MedicalMAn	Re: Residency	#5	[-]
Posts: 10 (10/22/05 13:29:39) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	i want to thank both of you guys, i guess i can get my mind open for different opportunities but i dont think that many will appeal to me lol sorry im a little stubborn i just love the circulatory system and the heart but thanks again for your input
leviathan	Re:	#6	[-]
Posts: 488 (10/22/05 14:25:48) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	You're welcome.
physiology	CV surgery	#7	[-]
Posts: 1030 (10/25/05 23:12:20) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hello MedicalMan, That's great you have aspirations to become a CV surgeon. Some things to consider: 1) 6 year residency - plus if you want to work in a big hospital, tack on 1-2 years of fellowship (that's on top of your 4 years of med school & how many years of undergrad/grad school you've done) - so, god knows how long it'll take. Certain residency programs also have the option to do a PhD and encourage it. 2) Long hours of on-call - surgical residencies have by far the worst hours. However, you do get remunerated for on-call now if you work in BC. But does that extra money compensate for missed graduations, birthdays, and anniversaries? I think not. Anyway, it's a personal decision. 3) The work is rewarding - you do get to save lives and you are the last line of defense and last resort before the patient kicks up daisies. As a result, patients are eternally grateful & you are highly respected. 4) CV surgeons don't have the reputation of being the nicest surgeons around - avoid paging them at all cost during the wee hours of the morning. 5) Dwindling territory - watch interventional cardiology & radiology take over more and more procedures. Physio
leviathan	Re:	#8	[-]
Posts: 488 (10/31/05 02:22:59) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hey physio, Thanks for that relevant info on the residency/lifestyle. I'm sure it was very helpful for him.
MedicalMAn	Re: Residency	#9	[-]
Posts: 10 (11/01/05 19:48:25) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	thanks physiology and the rest of you guys
dr nomis	Re: Residency	#10	[-]
Posts: 59 (05/28/06 10:03:40) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	"Kicks up dasies"... that's sweet What year in Med do they teach you things like that? I assume it's a lecture entitled, "Documenting Patient Mortality: Standard Methods and Variations Thereof"
transplant(d)	Re: Residency	#11	[-]
Posts: 11 (05/28/06 21:28:24) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hi, Don't forget about pediatric CV surgery. Very different from adult because you are dealing primarily with congenital heart defects. Some of the most mindnumbing conditions, e.g.Transposition of Great Arteries...it is what it sounds like, and some of the most amazing surgical corrections (Mustard, Senning, etc.). If I were thinking about CV surgery, I'd be thinking pediatric (a personal preference, of course). I don't think it ever gets dull and surgeons are called upon to be very inventive in how they approach some of the more difficult cases. As has been pointed out, interventional cardiologists are taking on a greater role in handling some (simpler) congenital heart defects, e.g., valve regurgitation. Having said all that you'd better be prepared to live and breathe pediatric CV surgery because my observation is that that is the standard in that crowd. transplant

<< Previous Topic Next Topic >>

Yuku free message boards

Residency

Residency

Quick Reply