trauma surgery

[heranatomy]

i'm a minor and a freshman in highschool. i know its early to be wondering what i'll be wanting to do in the next 8 years but i want to be prepared. I know what trauma surgery is but i need a clear understanding. and i'm choosing between general surgery and trauma. what do i need to do or be prepared to accomplish both of those. like what college do i need to work hard to get in? my grades aren't perfect but i'm trying to bring them up and i will. can anyone please help me and give me advice?

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[Toutie]

i'm a minor and a freshman in highschool. i know its early to be wondering what i'll be wanting to do in the next 8 years but i want to be prepared. I know what trauma surgery is but i need a clear understanding. and i'm choosing between general surgery and trauma. what do i need to do or be prepared to accomplish both of those. like what college do i need to work hard to get in? my grades aren't perfect but i'm trying to bring them up and i will. can anyone please help me and give me advice?

You don't "major" in anything. You are probably 10-12 years away from choosing an area of medicine to specialize in. Relax. Enjoy high school. Get good grades. Go to college. Get good grades. Get into med school. And in your 3rd and 4th year you can worry about this stuff.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

You don't actually know what trauma surgery is, since you just said "I'm choosing between general surgery and trauma." You can't choose--trauma is a subspecialty of general surgery, and a gensurg residency is required.
Also, you're a high school freshman, you don't need to decide until you're in college IF you want to go to med school at all. In the meantime, getting good grades and working toward getting into a good college is what you need to do. Everything else will come with time.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

You don't actually know what trauma surgery is, since you just said "I'm choosing between general surgery and trauma." You can't choose--trauma is a subspecialty of general surgery, and a gensurg residency is required.
Also, you're a high school freshman, you don't need to decide until you're in college IF you want to go to med school at all. In the meantime, getting good grades and working toward getting into a good college is what you need to do. Everything else will come with time.

Real question -> As a trauma attending, what's the lifestyle really like? I actually for awhile was interested in trauma, but ended up leaning away towards PRS because I was afraid of how call for trauma would impact my life if I wanted to have a family (since my fiancee is also a medical student).

Edit: Didn't intend to hijack, but I agree. A decade ago when I was a high schooler, it was enough for me to know that I wanted to go into the medical field. If as a high schooler you have an idea of what field you want to get into, start by volunteering at your local hospital or ask to shadow for a day at doctor's office to see what it's like. Keep a hard working attitude and humble attitude and that'll get you further than you think. Everything else comes later and at best, they're all just details.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

I'm an orthopaedic trauma surgeon, not a general trauma surgeon. When most people refer to "trauma surgeon" they mean gensurg. I am ortho, and our lifestyle is easier than gensurg trauma, but still harder than most orthopaedic subspecialties. I have an AMA thread on the allo forum where I address this and other qns.

 

[AttemptingScholar]

To answer your actual question, which is for advice:

High School: High grades, good test scores, ECs, leadership, volunteering, working to allow you to get into a respected school that is a good fit. It doesn't really matter which one so long as you are successful in college. Explore various interests (don't just join the premed club--my favorite club by far, and the most useful, was debate)

College: High grades, goods test scores, clinical experience, volunteering, leadership, maybe research, other ECs. Your goal is to determine if you want to be a doctor. The premed process is supposed to weed out people with other interests or who can't handle the stress. Shadow at multiple different specialties to determine which fields may interest you. You can major in anything so long as you do the premed prereqs.

You do not need to determine your specialty until med school. In general (though obviously not always), the people who go in determined on one and only one specialty find themselves disappointed as it is not as they romanticized it. The average med school student switches specialties more often than the average UG student switches majors (which I've already done twice, in just one year!). Good luck, and keep it in perspective.

 

[aformerstudent]

Take your first medical school exam and then decide.

 

[TypeADissection]

Trauma surgery is a long ways away brah. I wouldn't even worry about that right now. There will be plenty of time for it later when the time is right. One day when you're on a core surgery rotation, you'll have the opportunity to spend some time on the trauma service and take 24 hour call. That's the best time to live the life for a bit and decide if 1. general surgery is for you and 2. if a fellowship in trauma/critical care/ACS jives with you afterwards.

As a PGY-4 at a level one trauma center, it is truly the most painful thing that I do. You manage a lot of patients you'll never operate on with orthopedic or neurosurgical injuries, you get called for some of the stupidest things the ED can scrounge up and most of trauma today outside of select urban centers see more blunt than penetrating trauma. Don't forget too that as the population ages, you'll be managing essentially a geriatric service filled with head bleeds on anticoagulation and their medical comorbidities, rib fractures from falls and other nonsense that is NOT surgical.

After you've lived this life as a general surgery resident, you can then decide if a trauma fellowship is for you. Until then, relax. Enjoy having no real responsibilities. Don't take life too seriously right now. Play video games, go surfing and enjoy being a teenager in high school. Cheers.