surgical intern year before anesthesia?

[FirstAid]

Is anyone here considering doing a year of surgery for their intern year? I'm interviewing at the usual TY and prelim. med programs, but I also have a few surgery prelim invites as well. So far, I've talked to a couple of anesthesia res's from different programs who either transfered from surgery (i.e. ENT, ortho, gen. surg) or who did surgery prelims, and they really thought that they're surgery background helped them.

I was a bit skeptical, but they said that they were much more aggressive in the O.R. and felt that they knew a lot about the surgery's being performed, which helped them formulate a anesthetic management plan a lot easier as well as manage the patient with more predictability intraoperatively. Plus, they got to work on their procedural skills more during their intern year (i.e. IVs, central and art lines, tubes for ER and floor codes). This of course is dependant on how much scut work your specific program decides to lay on you. Overall, I'm starting to really consider surgery for intern year now. I'd much rather be managing surgical patients on the floors and in the SICU, rather than med patients. Also, the chance of going into the O.R. (even though this is a rarity for an intern) would also be a plus.

Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts on this, please feel free to chime in. Right now, I'm still on the fence between a TY prelim and surgery prelim. With TY, I'm a little scared that I may end up slacking off and not learning anything that year (which could be a minus or a plus ).

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[dr. mccoy]

Though I did a medicine internship, one of the advantages of doing a surgical internship is that it does help you prepare more for the procedural aspects of anesthesia such as lines, etc.. Also, if you end up doing pain and implanting e.g.pumps and stimulators, it will also help you with the surgical skills needed to accomplish those tasks as well.

 

[MTGas2B]

Surgery internship is great, if you find the right one. Check out private hospitals with surgery programs. I probably scrubbed on 80 or 90 cases during my intern year. Where I interned, interns going to the OR was the expectation.

 

[aredoubleyou]

Plus, they got to work on their procedural skills more during their intern year (i.e. IVs, central and art lines, tubes for ER and floor codes). ).

I would only do it for that reason.

Everybody thinks the intern year they did was the best kind of year to do. No question medicine has fewer procedures (although lots of codes - yea ) than surgery...

 

[2strong]

Medicine would be a wise choice. It helps you prepare for the board. you can learn all the procedures later. They're not a big deal. Don't do surgery, enjoy your life as an intern. Ddddon't make my mistake, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... but no regrets. Surgery was very fun for me. Ask yourself the question, what makes you happy? surgery=fun but hard work or medicine=boring but kickback intern year.

 

[CambieMD]

Medicine would be a wise choice. It helps you prepare for the board. you can learn all the procedures later. They're not a big deal. Don't do surgery, enjoy your life as an intern. Ddddon't make my mistake, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... but no regrets. Surgery was very fun for me. Ask yourself the question, what makes you happy? surgery=fun but hard work or medicine=boring but kickback intern year.

I think that the ITE has a large amount of internal medicine on it. Skill with lines and other procedures will come through practice.

CambieMD

 

[bubalus]

I think that the ITE has a large amount of internal medicine on it. Skill with lines and other procedures will come through practice.

CambieMD

There is a large amount of medicine on the boards. I did an internal medicine internship, and if I had to do it over, I'd lean more toward a transitional year, or a medicine year with more electives than I had. It's also a nice thing if you actually get to choose your electives (I didn't).

I don't think I have ever wished I had done a surgery internship.