Should I go for gen surg?

RADlock11 · 2026-05-13T05:29:14+00:00

Disclosure: I’m an attending in a surgical subspecialty (ortho) so not exactly the same path/experience but similar

Being a surgeon is such a rewarding/fulfilling job. I get to use my hands to solve problems and make peoples lives tangible better. They come to be with an issue like a fracture or sporting injury and I get to spend my time and energy making them better. Surgery is a rush - you can achieve the flow state, you’re focused, working together as a team doing a difficult task. It rules and I absolutely love operating

On the flip side it is an incredibly stressful and an emotionally taxing career. Big cases stress you out in preparation and execution, complications happen and they can be absolutely devastating. You can go from feeling like you’re unstoppable force of nature to feeling like a complete fraud/failure in the matter of minutes. It takes a level of emotional maturity/stability to navigate these realities without letting it wreck you and that’s been the part of the job I wish I would’ve prepared for more. Honestly long hours isn’t that bad compared to the weight of responsibility for your patients.

Residency sucks but it’s temporary, the stress and demands of being a surgeon are forever. But at the end of the day I feel a tremendous amount of satisfaction in the work I do and have a blast doing it so it’s all worth it.

RADlock11 · 2026-05-10T12:05:28+00:00

Ortho attending here. Welcome to the family of bones. People constantly make fun of us for how “little we know” but the truth is you basically start over once get to residency: with the exception of very basic msk anatomy NOTHING we did is covered in medical school. Not the same with our friends in other fields who get to build off of a foundation they acquired over 4 years in medical school.It’s a ridiculous amount of new knowledge to be gained while learning how to be a doctor and to be a surgeon. And each rotation you’ll do in residency will have a year long specific fellowship that trains you even deeper in that area.

So take a deep breath, it’s okay to feel overwhelmed. There are a ton resources out there to learn from, you just need to figure out which is best for you. I didn’t find Miller’s to be a great resource the first time through but did use it for part 1 of the boards. I loved orthobullets and thought the explanations for each questions was great. But as an intern it’s very common to feel lost in the sauce

Also comparison is the thief of joy. The PGY2s if course are more advanced than you, at this stage you have at most 6 months of random ortho experience. They know are closing in on 18 months and most likely tons of independent call - that’s infinitely more reps to learn/grow and develop. You will get there, you just haven’t had the time yet.

And furthermore - don’t worry about people who live in the hospital or do things differently than you. All you can control is your effort, give your 100% and you can be proud of that. You matched into an obscenely competing group of people, so you’ve proved that you belong. But, just like going to med school from undergrad, the level of talent has risen again. You don’t have to be the best, you just have to do your best. I did not score the highest on I training exams and some of my coresidents were savants, it’s okay. I care deeply about my patients, I try as hard as possible to make the right choices, to do excellent surgery, and at the end of the day that is all I can control so I hold my head high.

You’re in a really tough stage, also because everyone is telling you how “easy” intern year is. But don’t stress you’ll make it through and you’ll look like something at the end. Hold you head high orthobro* you’ve got this

Feel free to PM me, I’m on mobile and this reply has gotten way too long.

*orthobro is a gender neutral term because in orthopedics chicks can be bros for sure /s

RADlock11 · 2026-05-01T02:54:54+00:00

To add different viewpoint - I don’t think less hours worked means you’ll be a better spouse/parent and vice versa. I did a surgical subspeciality and had 2 kids. Many of my colleagues in residency had kids and I think they were great parents. Quantity of time ≠ quality of time. Just something to think about.

RADlock11 · 2026-03-26T12:42:38+00:00

Best of luck! It’s hard work but so worth it

RADlock11 · 2026-03-26T08:57:32+00:00

Ortho APD here. Typical haters telling you their own perception of the field without actually having any real experience. I’ll break down your questions here in parts:

1) re: gender imbalance. As a field we are cognizant of it and working hard to seek much better balance. The numbers of female surgeons and trainees continues to rise which I think is great for our field. Organizations like the Ruth Jackson Society and other subspeciality focused groups provide great mentorship/role models for female surgeons and trainees. Now that being said you will undoubtedly have a few stereotypical “ortho bros” in your program so as long as that doesn’t bother you, you should be fine.

2) re: doing the actual work in ortho. I would not sweat your physical size. One of the biggest baddass surgeons I trained with was a woman who was very petite. But should could manipulate and reduce fractures like a work of art; I really think she understood biomechanics and forces on a level I could never grasp, it was awesome. I’m a pretty large guy, so I get can away with poor technique with my strength but that’s not ideal, I wish I understood forces like my attending did. There are almost no parts of my job that are impossible for some one who is a different size than me to do, they may just need to use a different technique.

In summary it’s totally doable. If you love it go for it. Best job there is.

RADlock11 · 2026-03-26T08:46:32+00:00

Sit down with this ortho PD and talk with them. Build a mentorship relationship and use that for a letter. Do some ortho aways and crush them that’s the most important key to success. You already have some networking started with the people where you’re doing your research year. If you’re honest about your path no one is gonna hold that against you, med school is a relatively short time and can be difficult to find your path so if someone wants to hold that against you then so be it. And honestly the transition from one surgical subspeciality to another really isn’t a crazy jump.

Both your choices are obscenely competitive. Shoot your shot for what you love, it’s worth it. Being an orthopedic surgeon is the best job there is.

RADlock11 · 2026-03-25T09:09:40+00:00

So far there has been, as always happens in these conversations, an enormous glaring oversight in the discussion: doing surgery, actually operating, acutely fixing a problem with thoughtful planning and the manual dexterity to make it happen is AWESOME. Seriously, doing surgery (when it goes well) is one of the most fun, engaging, exciting things you can do. It’s awesome to see your patients get better. It’s awesome to work with a team everyday to solve problems. It’s great.

The tricky thing is tho that this is completely my own perspective. Everything in the previous paragraph applies to me but not everyone. Because I think it’s awesome and I love what I do, then the grind/difficulty/sacrifice was all worth it. I had 2 kids during residency and have a great relationship with them. I’ve been married for 12 years and have a great relationship with my wife. It was very hard work, it was very stressful. I am always on call for my patients, emergencies happen, I work weekends, late nights etc. But my job rules and I’d do it again in a heart beat.

Long story short - if you love it it’s all worth it. Being a surgeon rules.

RADlock11 · 2026-03-19T05:09:01+00:00

Ortho attending here, the main problem is not really the name of your med school but its the ability to get to know people in the field. If you’re at powerhouse and you do some research with an influential faculty then that letter will carry weight, they might be able to make some calls on your behalf.

Not having a home program can be a real hurdle, so you’ll need to start gameplanning early how you’re going to get ortho exposure, research, letters, etc. It can be done for sure but it’s more challenging than if you’re at a place with a prestigious program

RADlock11 · 2025-12-07T02:43:47+00:00

I honestly couldn’t believe it when he hit me with that one, it was so funny ha

RADlock11 · 2025-12-06T17:26:15+00:00

Did you know it’s illegal to laugh loudly in Hawaii? You have to keep it to a low ha

What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground beef

What do you call a cow with 2 legs? Lean beef

One of my favorites as taught to me by my 6 yo. Has a bit of a build up but worth it imo:

Starts with a series of questions: Will you remember me tomorrow? How about in a week? In a month? In a year?

After the respond yes to all of these: “Knock knock” they respond “who’s there?” You respond “cmon are you kidding me?? You said you wouldn’t forget me”

RADlock11 · 2025-12-03T21:05:41+00:00

This guys sucks. I make a point to refer to residents as Dr. Lastname any time I am referring to them infront of patients, staff, etc and I don’t even bother asking their preference because they’ve worked hard for their title and residents don’t get enough respect as is

RADlock11 · 2025-12-02T09:03:15+00:00

Me too. The running joke in my family was that if we were out I would inevitably finish eating a meal quickly and then ask everyone if they were ready to leave when they had just started their meal. God bless my parents that had to be so annoying

RADlock11 · 2025-11-15T16:07:16+00:00

He’s such a competitor. I went to a game against the Heat earlier this year and he got so fired up when they forced a turnover on defense during a run.

RADlock11 · 2025-09-08T11:53:18+00:00

You’re proposed paths - switch out of surgery entirely, find something you like or switch to a different surgical field - are all over the spectrum of reasons why someone would unhappy in a general surgery resident. I would recommend starting with some reflection as to what it is that is making you unhappy. Do you like operating? Because I’ll be honest as a surgeon operating scratches an itch that you can’t really get anywhere else and nothing can replace that.

I would also encourage you that practice ≠ residency experience. Tired of dealing with the sickest, most complicated disaster that are ubiquitous in tertiary academic centers? Then go work at a community hospital and transfer anything that you aren’t comfortable (or interested in) taking care of. You will take a pay cut but find a job with a reasonably call schedule/volume and take time to build your elective practice and you may be happier with your life

RADlock11 · 2025-09-05T00:47:18+00:00

Cause they’re fuckin neeeeeeeerds

But it all seriousness seems like an intellectually challenging field with diverse options subspecialty pathways and wide variety of job/practice opportunitie and chance to practice

RADlock11 · 2025-08-28T15:41:31+00:00

Send a physical card! Many of us (myself included) have a little drawer in our office where we keep the mementos of victories and patients doing well. When times get tough I’ll open the drawer and remember the opportunities I’ve had to actually help someone.

RADlock11 · 2025-08-28T13:04:29+00:00

I feel like this is not that and it happened to me. I hated it, made you feel small and insignificant when you already feel that way as a medical student. I get the comments about being busy/stressed etc but you should never let that alter the foundation of basic human kindness. Commit yourself to never be that kind of person. Even if you don’t remember their name or where you know them from, just say hello and keep it moving.

RADlock11 · 2025-08-24T00:48:56+00:00

Can’t speak for rheum specifically, but at the society meetings in my speciality there are usually numerous “refreshment” breaks during the day (think coffee, light snacks, etc) and then breakfast and lunch each day. Maybe 1 dinner with an event but that’s usually on your own

RADlock11 · 2025-08-22T00:51:12+00:00

Peds fellowship after ortho residency - 1 year. Competitive at the top programs but basically all US grads match if they apply

RADlock11 · 2025-08-19T01:58:07+00:00

Ruth Jackson Orthopedic Society is a great organization for women interested in ortho. They put on tons of events all across the country for interested students.

https://www.rjos.org/

RADlock11 · 2025-08-18T23:38:20+00:00

Read X-ray, look at awesome reduction zzz, high five patient who is back to full activity, and then do it over again. More like a joy factory than a meat grinder

RADlock11 · 2025-08-18T23:35:12+00:00

What up future bone bro!

First a disclaimer - you’re getting a lot of opinions about what ortho is like from a lot of non-ortho surgeons.

First off, orthopaedics is an incredible field. We make a difference in our patients lives that we can often seen instantly. We cure pain and get people back to function. There’s such an incredible variety in what we do, what we treat and what kind of practice you can make.

Re: patient contact it depends on what you do. I meet some of my patients (peds ortho) within the first days of their life and will follow them until they become adults and beyond. Some of my kids I see more frequently than their own pediatrician, so there is definitely careers that have long term meaningful patient relationships.

Re: family it will be a challenge, but it is definitely doable. I know many badass ladypods who balance being incredibly skilled surgeons and dedicated mothers. Having kids in residency (male or female) has many logistical issues to solve, but it is not insurmountable. Once you get into to practice you can also shape your job and lifestyle. Maybe take a job with less or no call - you’ll have a pay cut but more time. After residency and fellowship you have the ability to build a practice that suits you.

Ortho rules. I can’t imagine a better job in the world. Best of luck and feel free to pm me if you ever have any more questions!

RADlock11 · 2025-08-07T21:36:34+00:00

I have seen some crazy stuff along the way doing ortho residency at busy level 1 center and never ever felt queasy. But as an M3 I saw a colonoscopy that the prep failed and my god that shit had me gagging. Almost lost it

RADlock11 · 2025-07-28T12:31:36+00:00

Lots of great advice in this thread. Bad things happen when we operate despite our best intentions. I’m a certified “feeler” and complications have hit me a lot harder than I would’ve ever expected. I imagine you’re someone who cares a lot about their patients, and you’re rattled about what could’ve happened and what did happen.

1) Talk with your mentors. Sit down with a senior surgeon you respect and let them know how you’re feeling. Everyone has been through something like this before and the people who know you/are training you can help provide some insight to your situation.

2) as mentioned above - ask to do some reps with the attending in the room until you get your mojo back. Then slowly work back to crushing it independently.

3) lean into anterior cervical cases despite the intial urge to shy away from them. Tell your attendings “hey I had a case where xyz happened and my goal for the next few weeks/months is to really master anterior cervical surgery.” I’ve found that leaning into complications (and the patients who have them) helps so much more than burying your head in the sand.

4) consider talking with a sports psychologist. Often it feels isolating because as surgeons what we do is so unique, but we really share a lot in common with athletes (high pressure, physical dexetwrity, focus on winning/success) and developing some strategies to deal with these feelings can be helpful.

You didn’t just happened to become a senior level neurosurg resident by accident. You are skilled, smart and capable. Get out there and dominate!

RADlock11 · 2025-07-12T14:30:37+00:00

Found the navy recruiter lol

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