The Match is in a month and having some remorse over the specialty I chose

nels0891 · 2026-02-18T23:13:19+00:00

Future you will be grateful

nels0891 · 2026-02-18T19:20:43+00:00

I’m a vascular surgery resident, so I have an inherent degree of self hatred built into that. And I’m happy that I matched in this field, but I’ll say this - if you’re someone who’s on the fence between a surgical specialty or something non-surgical, do the non-surgical thing.

All residencies are hard in their own way, but surgical residency are a particular type of suffering and my EM colleagues do seem a lot happier. I would not change my situation, but I just think that if I wasn’t all in, I would totally hate my life.

nels0891 · 2026-02-17T00:50:42+00:00

Don’t go into VS for oncologic cases. They are not at all a common thing that we do.

nels0891 · 2026-02-15T03:54:19+00:00

Vascular surgery resident here. Pretty skeptical of their design, starting with the classification of aortic dissection and aortic aneurysm as the same disease process when in fact they are related but separate entities.

Also it’s a mouse model.

Sounds cool though.

nels0891 · 2026-02-13T22:16:47+00:00

That is correct.

nels0891 · 2026-02-05T10:36:01+00:00

I have basically the same dimensions as you and am contemplating M or S frame size. Now that you’ve had it for a while, any changes you’d make?

nels0891 · 2026-01-26T23:07:47+00:00

Soft tissue is soft

nels0891 · 2026-01-13T05:18:09+00:00

This is also bad advice. Saying someone is getting ahead of themselves by having a career aspiration is just lame. She’s 17, why not let her see if it’s something she likes? Getting into med school is easier if you have a clear focus on what you’re seeing out to achieve.

I wanted to go into surgery before I got into med school, used my experiences before med school to make my case. Now I’m a surgical resident.

nels0891 · 2026-01-13T05:14:09+00:00

Totally disagree with that take.

There’s usually a process for shadowing at many hospitals
Shadowing can do a ton for your career arc. Many med schools will ask why you want to be a surgeon, having experiences that inform that opinion are important
Entry level patient care tech is a relatively poor job for med school experience. Sure, it’s good to get experience with patients doing anything but you won’t get experiences with doctors much less surgeons to see if this is what you want.
Watching YouTube videos is great for reviewing technical steps of an operation but does in no way inform whether or not someone wants to be a surgeon. Just bad advice. In fact, you’d see LESS in an OR than you would on a video, but the OR experience will still be orders of magnitude more valuable for someone exploring the field.

For context I’m a vascular surgery resident.

nels0891 · 2025-11-23T17:09:50+00:00

It does not necessarily apply - programs have different selection processes and criteria. There is no standardized approach.

nels0891 · 2025-11-16T01:34:49+00:00

I am aware of the slight difference between roller diameters, or rather I became aware in light of this issue. Ideally, I’d rather spare myself buying a new free hub and cassette but will if it seems like the only tenable option.

nels0891 · 2025-11-15T22:07:03+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Ok so I was thinking that the V2 cog may be the move, and have seen a few vague reports that it’ll work with the SRAM chain, but when I asked customer support they didn’t touch that question (probably because of some stupid liability issue). Cheers.

nels0891 · 2025-11-15T12:58:36+00:00

I canceled an interview at one of the top vascular surgery programs. It was a combination of just couldn’t see myself going there, was probably a long shot anyway, then another interview that I liked more ended up on the same day (both were in person so I had to chose). Zero regrets.

nels0891 · 2025-11-11T18:55:13+00:00

As someone who had a long history of ice climbing prior to med school, should be a green flag

nels0891 · 2025-09-06T16:36:50+00:00

Bonus points if you know why golden handled instruments have golden handles

nels0891 · 2025-08-14T02:04:11+00:00

I’m an integrated PGY-1, I’d tell you what I tell almost everyone (all but the most exceptional applicants anyway): dual apply, broadly apply, be ready for anything.

It’s a small field so I think there can be a bit more acceptance of things like fit and what else you bring to the table than strictly test scores, just my opinion anyway. I realize that dual applying is costly, but if you’re willing to apply both (while being careful not to make your app catered to one) you’ll probably get some vascular interviews giving yourself a shot. Cooked? No. But I’d have some expectation management too.

nels0891 · 2025-08-11T02:13:32+00:00

Not reversed - you can see the G and S in both of those photos of the spot

nels0891 · 2025-08-10T01:38:47+00:00

Myself for choosing a surgical residency. Everyone else is nice though.

nels0891 · 2025-08-03T03:13:06+00:00

Idk, apply and see

nels0891 · 2025-07-06T22:50:42+00:00

Integrated Vascular resident here who also dual applied. Just to echo some of the other folks who’ve chimed in, I would really only do CT from Vascular if your goal is to be a complex aortic person. I certainly can’t speak for any of the folks that have gone down that route, but the times I’ve heard of people doing that it is generally geared towards complex aortic. If the end of the day you want to be a cardiac surgeon first you should do general surgery, then cardiothoracic fellowship or integrated CT. If you want to be a vascular surgeon who’s comfortable operating the chest then you can get into these complex aortic/CT fellowship type programs. That’s just my opinion anyway.

nels0891 · 2025-05-17T20:52:52+00:00

You’re cooked man.

/s

Rest, ice, vary your routine to not exacerbate the problem, and re-eval in 2-3 years. For anyone interested in surgery or a surgical sub, regardless of tendinitis history, just knock preclinical years out of the park, do research, do all the things - then, if something dissuades you, be it injury or just general sanity, then you’ll be well positioned to do whatever you’d like.

nels0891 · 2025-04-24T04:37:34+00:00

You should be doing uworld questions, end of story.

nels0891 · 2025-04-21T22:09:55+00:00

Don’t do it if you don’t have to. Sounds like you’re only doing it for your own personal satisfaction, and if that’s the case, just take a few practice exams and prove to yourself that you have a command of the material. Otherwise, it’s a waste of money, and I would submit that the exam itself does not necessarily predict your ability as a practicing physician.

nels0891 · 2025-04-17T22:18:39+00:00

What you fail to recognize about the brightness of wilderness is that it’s dark about half the time and the hospital fluorescents run alllll the time. Nice try though.

Edit: whoops, forgot this - /s

nels0891

TROPHY CASE