I'm deciding on what specialty to commit to for the rest of my professional life. I find cardiothoracic very interesting, especially cardiac surgery. Obviously, there is a well known reputation that the specialty is 'dying'. If there are any cardiothoracic SpRs or consultants on here, can you provide me with some insight into whether this is truly the case, whether there is likely going to be a shortage of consultant posts in around 10 years time, what your professional lives are like, how intense is the job, how difficult is it to get into the specialty, what the pay is like as a consultant (is there much private work in the UK), and lastly, if you could go back, would you choose another specialty.
Cheers.
I highly doubt any residents/attendings/fellows in gen surg or CT will have even 2 seconds of free time to read let alone respond to this post but its worth a shot! So I wanted to know, what was your path to matching into these two fields? Besides the standard crush Step 1/2, pass/honor in all your rotations especially IM & gen surg cores, get excellent LORs, etc what apart from that did you do to really make yourself stand out to give yourself an advantage & be competitive?
How much did your research come into play in giving yourself an edge? Did you take a year off to do a research fellowship or did you do research while on rotations? Both? Did you have a mentor? How did you establish & relationship with one & if your school didn’t have a home program how did you go about navigating how to get one? Is AOA a must? On the off chance that step 1 or 2 scores weren’t as high as you would have liked what did you do to supplement that? How many away rotations did you do during 4th year? What other electives would you recommend for 4th year would be beneficial? In your opinion, what do PDs want to see from a geng surg or CT applicants besides whats on paper?
For CT residents/fellows: did you do the traditional 5+3, i6 or 4/3 pathway? Are the requirements and application processes different for each or just pretty much the same?
These are the questions I have for now. Thank you for taking the time to respond and well deserved congratulations for all your achievements.
Some background on me: MS3 currently on IM core with an interest in surgery specifically CT. From my surgical shadowing experiences during premed, what I’ve learned in basic sciences & am currently learning during cores, I’ve really looked at myself & seen that I would be happiest & well suited to surgery. Moreover I believe the heart is the most beautiful organ in the body & would love an opportunity to dedicate my life to studying it & using that knowledge to help & treat patients.
TL;DR please help me lol
Do they have adequate time to relax, pursue a hobby and spend time with friends and family?
And what would be the more work/life balanced track; the cardiac or thoracic track?
like if she IS that good of a surgeon why not show it off like they did with cristina? they’re always raving about how maggie is a such a talented and extraordinary surgeon but seems very “ordinary” and cristina seemed like she was better in a way
I have seen lot of faculty in mayo clinic working has cardiothoracic surgeon who completed residency outside us and Canada, how is it possible?
I think Dr Wen is a general surgeon, he’s talking about his lapcholi with Turk a few episodes before
The competition ratios for each are in the eye watering double digit figures, and both require you to embark on a long and arduous journey. I know they're 2 completely different specialties, but I was wondering how they compare and why choose one over the other apart from the interest?
Merry Christmas guys, I hope you are all well and having a great time!
I am looking for resources to get the basic info about cardiothoracic surgery that I need as an aspiring cardiologist. Especially interested about areas that could overlap with our practice (i.e. i dont care about lung cancer surgeries, but would like to know what good distal targets for revasc means).
Hey all,
I am currently a PA working within the CSICU (No OR) at large health care organization where we care for immediate post-op patients ranging from TAVR's to Heart Transplants and ECMO. I previously worked in a different specialty then made the transition about two years ago. The orientation process that I went through and other providers have gone through is really lacking and it ended up being quite a miserable experience both for myself as an orientee and to the preceptors. A lot of the stress came because the job itself is extremely stressful, higher risk, procedurally oriented, and depends on the PA to much more autonomous than a lot of other specialties which in and of itself is a lot to take in right at the beginning. That being said a more structured and well thought-out orientation program I believe could ease the stress for the new provider and make precepting a little more satisfying.
In a couple of weeks I will be orienting a new hire for the first time (new grad with no previous PA experience or experience in cardiology, cardiac surgery, or intensive care medicine) and I have received very little guidance on how to go about this process. I did orient new hires and PA students in my other specialty so I have that to fall back on but this position is just so different from that I feel that there will only be small bits that I can pull from that. What I want to avoid is what I went through and I really want this next 6 MONTHS + to be successful and maybe an opportunity to make a more solid process for everyone moving forward.
Long story short... I am reaching out to see if there is anyone out there who has any sort of advice on how to go about doing this especially from other PA's who have either worked in cardiac surgery or intensive care medicine with procedures including central/arterial lines, chest tubes (surgical and pigtail), etc. which we are able to do under general supervision. We manage ~8-10 patients per provider during the day and at nights we manage 15-18 patients per provider (which I know is an unsafe amount of patients but alas, like the rest of the medical community, we are understaffed)
Thanks!
Question from a cardiac nurse - the cardiothoracic surgery team at our hospital has 2 surgeons, trying to bring on a third. This is a teaching hospital, but somehow they don't have to/don't want to? take residents.
They are incredibly overworked, doing valve replacements, LIMAs etc like working an assembly line.
They've said that interventional cards was supposed to replace cardiothoracic surgery and that's why fewer people enter the speciality, but now there seems to be a demonstrated need for those times when PCI isn't enough.
Why don't they take residents? Is cardiothoracic surgery still not considered good since interventional cardiology can do a lot?
These questions Just Aren't Asked by nurses at the hospital, but the lack of residents training with this team seems self-defeating.
Season 3, in Bailey's episode during their kidney transplant there are complications and she says "We need a cardiothoracic surgeon" and Bailey is surprised he goes ahead and is able to do what he does.
Fast forward to season 6 and Sam is able to say "I'm one of the best cardiothoracic surgeons."
When did this happen? What kind of doctor or surgeon was Sam if he wasn't a cardiothoracic surgeon?
Again though, the pain is not that bad.
Because they wanted to damage the lungs of the inhabitants of the home and quite possibly kill them as well.
God bless South Sudan!
God bless the Republic of Congo!
God bless the Democratic Republic of Congo!
And God bless you all!
(And God bless China!)
Hello fellow doctors What medicalbooks do you recommend for cardiothoracic and vascular surgery ?
I’m watching s6e5 (the documentary one) and Sam literally says he is one of the best cardiothroacic surgeons in the country. I just find this so unrealistic. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but he quit doing surgery during his residency right? so therefore he isn’t board certified for cardio, didnt do a fellowship, and had many many many years out of practice before becoming an attending at St. Ambrose, a smaller hospital that probably does not get a lot of out of the ordinary or challenging cardiothoracic cases. It just irritates me and is such an unrealistic flaw in the writing. That is all. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk lol
New grad RN I have 2 offers: • 1st offer Adult Neuro Science ICU. 2:1 nurse ratio
OR
• 2nd is Cardiothoracic Step down unit 4:1 nurse ratio
Pay rate is the same
Which would be better to prepare for CRNA?
Adult Neuro ICU - this would get my foot in the door to ICU I would then transfer to MICU, TICU or CVICU
Cardiothoracic Step down unit- I would have to wait 1 year to apply to ICU
☆ Whats your thoughts on the best position & why? I have to make a Decision soon😳
Cristina or Maggie? What do you think?
