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I get the weirdest looks and jokes when I tell my non-medical friends that I am considering Urology.
One thing that has surprised me is that the majority of non-medical people don't realize that urology is a surgical specialty.
That's because of the stupid "-ology" thing, instead of "-surgery" like Neurosurgery.
Believe it or not, I've had pathologists (borderline "physicians") confuse it with nephrology. That's why in some countries, it's called Urosurgery.
That's because of the stupid "-ology" thing, instead of "-surgery" like Neurosurgery.
Believe it or not, I've had pathologists (borderline "physicians") confuse it with nephrology. That's why in some countries, it's called Urosurgery.
In East Asian countries, the literal translation is: Uro-surgeon, same status as Neuro-surgeon. My uncle is a uro-surgeon in a huge hospital in Beijing.
I see that urologists are actually pretty well respected in the hospital, but why is this? nature of the field? competitiveness of specialty? minimally invasive operations? what makes them so cool
Except in China, no one respects doctors. Chinese doctors make slightly more than a Chinese factory worker. There was a Chinese surgeon recently who went on a murderous rampage at some upper class preschool because he was frustrated with being poor as hell while illiterate Chinese real estate brokers made 1000x more than he did. In China, people only respect those who have money, and doctors are on the very bottom of that ladder. You can't even find a wife if you don't have enough money to buy a condo in China (which most Chinese doctors would never be able to afford in the cities).
Anyone who thinks doctors ought to all be altruistic and not care at all about money, should go be a doctor in China.
I've gotten the occasional penis and rectal exam jokes from friends (even those in medical school), but it's generally just guys giving me a hard time on purpose.
u exgerated it pretty bad lol. my grand father and grand mother on my father side, including my father are doctors. they dont pay for their housing because its all paid for by the government. we lived in apartments though, and we definitely weren't rich. but we weren't that poor neither lol. although there was a time when physicians in china were possibily the richest people in any place. until the commies came around, but thats another story, one that makes a lousy nighttime story i tell ya.
my father still has friends in china, in the medical field, and they say the out look has been improving, alot. this time frame is a strange time for china, its only been approx 60 years since their true Independence, so any thing that happens now is unlikely to stay. its a fast growing nation with alots of potential.
haha. Same reason you and most surgery subspeciality applicants aren't impressed with OB-GYN. I see most of the lifestyle surgeons talking about Optho, Uro, Ortho, Oto but never ob-gyn. After doing my rotation on OB-GYN those are some pretty badass surgeons that actually do some serious surgeries. but you all would never give that the time of day. why?
The only embarrassing thing about urology is how much money we get paid for doing really fun operations that actually help people have a better quality of life without having to slave away at the hospital.
Ever see a mid-career surgeon in some of the other "cooler" specialties? Talk about burn out.
It personally doesn't matter to me if the general population thinks I prescribe Viagra and Flomax all day. It doesn't even matter to me if some of the primary care doctors think that as well. I didn't go into this to impress random people.
Besides, most people who know a thing or two know that GU consistently attracts the best medical students, turns out technically excellent open and laparoscopic surgeons, has the best jokes, is the most laid back and fun group of guys (and gals), and is one of the highest paid specialties.
In fact, I kind of like it that it's not so well known. It keeps the field small and self selecting. It's the best kept secret in medicine.
I like your style, I'm gonna start calling it that and see if it catches on.
Hey why stop there. WHy not take a page from the Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery gameplan and start calling it Urology - Penis, Testicles, and Taint surgery
The only embarrassing thing about urology is how much money we get paid for doing really fun operations that actually help people have a better quality of life without having to slave away at the hospital.
Ever see a mid-career surgeon in some of the other "cooler" specialties? Talk about burn out.
It personally doesn't matter to me if the general population thinks I prescribe Viagra and Flomax all day. It doesn't even matter to me if some of the primary care doctors think that as well. I didn't go into this to impress random people.
Besides, most people who know a thing or two know that GU consistently attracts the best medical students, turns out technically excellent open and laparoscopic surgeons, has the best jokes, is the most laid back and fun group of guys (and gals), and is one of the highest paid specialties.
In fact, I kind of like it that it's not so well known. It keeps the field small and self selecting. It's the best kept secret in medicine.
Believe it or not, I've had pathologists (borderline "physicians") confuse it with nephrology. That's why in some countries, it's called Urosurgery.
A good pathologist is essential to a good urologist!
"Urosurgeon" will be easily confused with "neurosurgeon" in speech.
"Urosurgeon" will be easily confused with "neurosurgeon" in speech.
When people say urology I've often misheard neurology.
i tend to agree with this.
one of the things that separates urology from our close cousin general surgery is the relative infrequent need for exploratory surgery. while advances in cross sectional imaging have contributed to this, it is also the expertise of our colleagues in pathology who are so helpful in the preoperative workup of patients.
Hey why stop there. WHy not take a page from the Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery gameplan and start calling it Urology - Penis, Testicles, and Taint surgery