Blood, surgery, and the specialty battle

Venipuncture

I feel like a large part of med school is getting over your fear of things. Before I was “almost a doctor”, I was afraid of all kinds of medically-related stuff such as blood, shots, and surgery. Most importantly, though, I was terrified of needles. I hated the idea of having a needle in my arm and I couldn’t even imagine putting a sharp object in someone else’s arm. I think it has to do with bad experiences as a child.

Well this past week, I did it. Mostly because I had to. I was really nervous and I prepped for the moment for many weeks. One month before, I mustered up the courage to watch myself get pierced for the first time when I donated blood. A few weeks before, I forced myself to watch other people get their blood drawn. On the day of, I just steadied my hand, closed my eyes (well, only mentally), and went for it. To my surprise, the blood just came flowing out right away like it was supposed to. It felt pretty good getting it on the first try. Now I can say I know how to do it while secretly hoping I wont have to do it again.

Intro to Surgery

“Only those who cannot envision doing anything else with their lives should choose surgery. If you can find happiness in any other career, then do not choose surgery.”

That’s what I learned on the first day of the introduction to surgery selective. Pretty much, surgery is hard work, it’s competitive, and its not worth bothering with unless you’re in love with it. Yes, surgeons are paid more than other doctors, but they also work longer hours, endure more physical and emotional stress, and train for more years. If a bag of gold is what you’re expecting at the end of the rainbow, then its not too late to do investment banking.

Specialties

The Surgery selective got me thinking a lot about the million dollar question: which specialty?

The system works like this: you’re thrown into med school and you have no idea what you want to do because you have little or no experience in all of the specialties. If you want a competitive specialty that has good pay and reasonable hours, you have to choose early, stick with it, and spend all of med school honing your CV. So you choose some “good” specialties, shadow a few doctors, and stick with the first thing you find any interest in. It’s like throwing darts at a board. Good thing you’re only deciding WHAT YOU’LL DO FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

I had an epiphany the other day while driving back from the dentist. Nothing has really clicked with me yet. I like aspects of many specialties but I’m still waiting for something to pop out, grab me by the collar, and tell me I should do it. Then I realized maybe I want something where I can integrate my love of art and medicine. Plastic surgery, anyone? Too bad it’s the most competitive specialty known to man.