Mangy

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I'm only a high school sophomore so correct me if I am wrong please, but I believe that the three I have listed are the things you do right after graduating from medical school if you're planning to become a trauma surgeon. Even if you're not specifically going for becoming a trauma surgeon, these are still part of the path for other medical specialties I think so I just listed it separately.

For the sake of helping people, I've been wanting to work in the ER. I found out that the type of things I want to do are what a trauma surgeon would do, not an EM. Here's the thing, though...

I'm terrified.

I'm not afraid of blood and all that. What is terrifying is things like a surgeon shouting at you during your internship while an emergency surgery is taking place, meaning someone's life is currently at risk. Or, completely having no idea what to do when you're the leading surgeon -after a the training I mean- and everyone in your team is depending on you for correct judgement and orders.

I could freaking choose other medical specialties that would be less terrifying than surgery. Although any medical profession isn't easy, I'm pretty sure there are other types of paths with less pressure compared to the pressure during an emergency situation. Those other paths could even have a higher salary. And yet, I really want to be a trauma surgeon. I feel like my fears are shouting at me.

So, I think I could get a better look on this if I heard people's experiences...

(BTW; I've looked at similar and related threads but none has helped so far. They're also really old threads from mostly 2003, 2005, or 2007 that I doubt will be continued)

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In medical school and residency you are going to be yelled at by an attending in all kinds of situations (not just when someones life is at risk) and in all kinds of specialties (not just surgery). You'll get used to it.
 
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In medical school and residency you are going to be yelled at by an attending in all kinds of situations (not just when someones life is at risk) and in all kinds of specialties (not just surgery). You'll get used to it.
At what stage in the road to becoming a surgeon do you start actually doing things for patients. Med, residency, or only until fellowship?
 
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At what stage in the road to becoming a surgeon do you start actually doing things for patients. Med, residency, or only until fellowship?
You begin helping patients in medical school.
As your skills increase, so do your responsibilities.
 
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You won't run a team until you are very much ready to run a team. And you won't be in charge of literal life or death moments until you have demonstrated the skills required to rise to that challenge. If an attending surgeon, intensivist, or whatever puts you *as an intern* in a position where your extremely limited insight and skillset are the only thing that separates a patient from their demise, then the outcome of that situation is squarely on the attending and not you. I've been an intensivist for a pretty good while now, and I wouldn't let an intern run a fever workup, let alone place an emergent line/chest tube/EVD/temp wire without me literally holding their hand. Even the fellows have to earn trust and respect before the training wheels come off.
 
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It's called graduated responsibility. You do one thing well and then get the opportunity to do something else. Just recently, as the chief of a trauma service, I had the opportunity to open a chest and abdomen in a patient in extremis, and afterwards knew with a fair amount of confidence that the patient was going to do well. That specific act doesn't just happen day one of residency, but it does begin to start there. It's a process that takes repetition and preparation. You know what helps fight off the fear of being terrified? Being prepared. As an intern, I remember watching my chief open the chest and abdomen deftly and thinking to myself, "when is that going to be me?" Well it starts day one. You learn how to do simple procedures first and work your way up as your technique improves. And in regards to being yelled at, you're just going to have to get used to that. I'm not even in a program with attendings that yell, but you have to have thick skin if you're going to do surgery because if you're doing something wrong someone is going to tell you.
 
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Trauma surgeon's work 80+ hours a week and have a very high divorce rate which means your whole life will be career based. Don't decide what speciality you want. Would you be okay being a family medicine or internal medicine doctor? As @Goro would say, do you want to be a doctor? Rule out every other job possibility. If you can't see your life without practising medicine it may be the choice for you.
 
I'm only a high school sophomore so correct me if I am wrong please, but I believe that the three I have listed are the things you do right after graduating from medical school if you're planning to become a trauma surgeon. Even if you're not specifically going for becoming a trauma surgeon, these are still part of the path for other medical specialties I think so I just listed it separately.

For the sake of helping people, I've been wanting to work in the ER. I found out that the type of things I want to do are what a trauma surgeon would do, not an EM. Here's the thing, though...

I'm terrified.

I'm not afraid of blood and all that. What is terrifying is things like a surgeon shouting at you during your internship while an emergency surgery is taking place, meaning someone's life is currently at risk. Or, completely having no idea what to do when you're the leading surgeon -after a the training I mean- and everyone in your team is depending on you for correct judgement and orders.

I could freaking choose other medical specialties that would be less terrifying than surgery. Although any medical profession isn't easy, I'm pretty sure there are other types of paths with less pressure compared to the pressure during an emergency situation. Those other paths could even have a higher salary. And yet, I really want to be a trauma surgeon. I feel like my fears are shouting at me.

So, I think I could get a better look on this if I heard people's experiences...

(BTW; I've looked at similar and related threads but none has helped so far. They're also really old threads from mostly 2003, 2005, or 2007 that I doubt will be continued)
Get into college first, and then worry about tings like this after Organic Chemistry.
 
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