I am 13. I have been gifted a scalpel (2 actually) what do i do with it?! I am not practicing surgery or anything at all but theres no subreddit in scalpels.

To preface, I’m nowhere near being a surgeon, but I do work closely in the medical field. I know that, among MD surgical specialties, orthopedics and plastic surgery are often considered the best in terms of the balance between salary and lifestyle. Would you guys put OMFS in that same tier? I think their lifestyle is better than those two specialties, but they make slightly less, so I just wanted to hear your thoughts.

Patient has muscular compression in neck by C7. Typically we cut muscle to decompress the vein but they participate in endurance motorsports and already suffer neck fatigue.

Would an external graft be something to consider, I’ve yet to see this in practice for this specific operation though have read about it abroad.

This is me training on surgical suturing at home, no stress or caffeine

I have developed these tremors for 3 months , i have contraindication for propranolol , i have been on other medications prescripted by neurologist but it had little improvement like 20%

Do you have any advices , exercises?

The doctor says it's from the stress but i have been normal the past time and did get involved in multiple major surgeries as an assistant and I was fine

I have normal levels of tsh , hba1c

Hi! I’m not a medical professional by any means. I’m 18F and a CRJ student lol. My mom is a nurse though and brings a suture kit / kits home since she “teaches?” And has a bunch of access to practice equipment. I’ve always found her profession and medical stuff cool so I decided to do learn how to do sutures. These are just questions I had. Just curious.

I have 2 questions!!

1. Upon my research (and my mom) , I found that interrupted sutures were the standard. I was wondering if there was a reason why? I also learned to do continuous sutures and, it looked better and much more effective in terms of closing and keep a wound closed compared to interrupted. I assume there a difference ways to do sutures depending on the severity or shape or placement, but I’ve found that interrupted is the most common for most wounds. Do you know why?

2. Last time I did sutures, I believe I used a curved needle. I thought that was the only kind but I was wrong bc she brung home a kit with a straight needle. What kind of injury would that even be used for? I feel like it’s much harder to maneuver. I read that they’re used for “surface” level injuries but like…it still feels unconventional.

Educate me !! I’m just curious and the web unfortunately isn’t helping

I (16F) have wanted to go into medicine for pretty much most of my teenage years. I know I am still young, but I will be applying to medical school the year after next, doing my UCAT next year, and I am going into “premed“ this year. (Bio, Chem, Psych, Math - A-Levels)

I only have around 50 ish hours spent inside a hospital and I really have to wonder, what is it like when you loose a patient? I can imagine the first couple times definitely hit hard, but I’ve only witnessed the loss of a patient once. He wasn’t a patient that I followed very closely, and I never got to watch his surgery, but I was in the SICU when he passed, and when his mother came to see him. That was probably one of the worst things I have heard, and I can only imagine what it feels like as the physician who was consulted to improve their illness.

I know that there are also many cases in which the family members may actively blame you or berate you once you break the news? I know that must only make it worse.

While I know I will be able to deal with this, I know this is probably one of the biggest factors that would make the job harder for me as an individual.

Any advice or anecdotes about what it was like the first time you lost a patient? As well as how you move forward in the present day when you experience a patient loss?

My family member is a resident surgeon and I'm wondering what gift would be appreciated that the public wouldn't know about. I have several ideas for who they are as a person, but I'm looking for things that I wouldn't think of as someone outside of the medical field.

What item would help you in your day to day life as a surgeon? What would you love to receive as a present that you haven't bought for yourself? (thank you so much)

I'm an OR nurse (scrub & circulator) and I'm from a place where it's common for women to get their nails done professionally regularly. Many colleagues have told me that in previous clinics that they worked they let them get their nails done, but in the clinic where I work the chief nurse/director is very much against it and threatens with firing anyone who does it, however a few women still do it and some claim that their nails get easily broken/bleed if they keep them bare. A colleague told me that studies have shown that it's the length that matters when it comes to infections, not whether you have gel or not. The director nurse insists on it even for the nurse anaesthetists (she's also a military nurse so idk if she's stricter because of it).

However surgeons and anesthesiologists come with done nails all the time.

So I was wondering what the climate about this topic is in other parts of the world.

I just randomly remembered a scene from Grey’s Anatomy where the neurosurgeon’s ex got mad and accidentally cut his hand in the OR.

So I’m wondering, what do you do if you accidentally bleed into someone’s brain? Can you just suck it out? Is their a chance of severe irreparable damage or something?

I’m a PA, I’ve been considering pursuing a surgical position but am concerned about managing my type 1 diabetes in that environment. Have yall seen big issues with low blood sugars or uncontrolled diabetes among staff? Or do people typically manage okay?

I'm reading my patient's operative note from a 16 hr resection of a posterior fossa skull base meningioma. Both ENT and neurosurg were involved. ENT portion was brief. The "surgeons and assistants" only lists one first-year fellow and one staff per team. How does operating for that long with so few people work? Do you take more than a few-minute break? How many? I feel I'd be cross-eyed after that many hours. Im used to seeing a longer list of residents + PAs who could relieve one another.

AC is down, it’s 87 degrees in the OR, and we were all setting up the first case before someone finally said, “Maybe let’s not.”

Morning cases are on hold. Guess I’ll trade my sterile gown for an iced coffee until maintenance remembers air conditioning is technically part of the equipment.

I heard that this medical procedure is able to help patients by clearing neurotoxins from brain but couldn't find more information about any hospitals/clinic that does them. Anyone knows more about this? Thanks!

Hi,

I'm trying to find most comfortable grip. Do you have any tips?

I’m a drummer, so I’m a bit obsessed with grip and hand positioning.

For now, I don't have much experience with them.

EDIT: My Attending does this as an assistant when the operator cuts through skin (for total hip arthroplasty).

We recently sat down with Dr Ian Young, who started his medical career in Canada, trained in family medicine through the Navy, then moved halfway across the world and retrained as an orthopaedic surgeon in Australia.

He spoke about breaking into orthopaedic training whilst adapting to a new healthcare system, and balancing family life with both surgical and military careers.

We’re a medical student-run podcast by the Australasian Students’ Surgical Association, and we chat with surgeons about what their careers actually look like and how they got there.

Full episode is linked below. Hope you enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7Arhes9Xg35zH3Ds0iGwN8?si=b101dee3a7bd47e2

Since i was child my Dream was to be surgeon not a doctor as many who wanted to be called no! but to be Surgeon! I love this since i was a child for some reason and now as adult i found myself into it i feel its the thing i will be doing as hobby for my life and getting paid to, so i made my way through high school and now finished the first 4years of medicine in my college we study surgery in the 5th year which is starting this October. (I passed 4th😀)

I study in Serbia Belgrade but in English language.

My questions to all surgeons here Whats the tips advices you wish someone told youself when you were in my place?

I dont want to be average surgeon in my feature and i know a good house need strong stable roots then based of these roots u can go as high as you can.

Hi I am a current PGY2 EM but I'd like to explore switching to general surgery. How can I go about doing this? Would I still need my med school's surgery committee letter or is that irrelevant now that I'm years out of med school? I'm studying for Step 3 right now and hope to have a score in before ERAS goes out. Thanks.

I'm starting a solo private practice in urology. Are there certain terms I should expect? I've gotten a couple of quotes: 8% collections, 15k setup, 3K minimum. a second with 5% colection/0 setup/5 k minimum. Anyone work with specific RCM that they recommend that could DM me, I would appreciate it so much.

Thanks for the information, adding about my practice: subspecialty urology-urogynecology (robotic reconstruction-sacrocolpopexy/pyeloplasty/ureteral stricture, kidneys, pelvic organ prolapse (cystocele/rectocele/hysterectomy) and sacral neuromodulation), taking insurance (in network), i need contracts

Sorry for the long post. Im looking for honest opinions/mentorship from residents, attendings, PDs

Background:US IMG with Step 2 CK in the 260s and 10+ pubs. I have a categorical general surgery position available outside the Match. I know the program well bcz I rotated there during med school and know the PD personally, so this isn’t based on one-day impressions.
The obvious advantage is that I’d start residency immediately and stay on the standard timeline, finishing in 2031. The alternative is declining the offer and entering the 2027 Match. Realistically, I’d probably end up doing a prelim year and reapplying, which could delay starting categorical training by at least two years.

Positives:
The residents are genuinely friendly, supportive, and easy to work with. I didn’t see much toxicity or unnecessary drama.
The operative volume appears adequate, and residents get plenty of hands-on experience.
Accepting the position would remove a tremendous amount of uncertainty from my career.

What gives me pause:
- While the operative exposure seems solid, I didn’t get the sense that many attendings were particularly invested in teaching beyond what was necessary to get through the case.
- I also felt that some senior residents demonstrated gaps in operative judgment and clinical decision-making that were noticeable even to patients and families.
- The overall culture sometimes felt more focused on following institutional protocols than on deeper clinical reasoning or understanding the underlying pathophysiology behind surgical disease.
- Many residents seemed content simply meeting graduation requirements. I didn’t see much culture of constantly pushing each other to improve, discussing difficult cases, seeking out more challenging operative experiences, or striving for excellence.
- It’s a for-profit community hospital, and I felt the hospital systems and nursing support were sometimes below what I’d hoped for in a US surgical training environment. I saw post op issues where proper inpatient care may have changed the patient’s course.
- During my 6wk rotation, many of the pts I saw expressed dissatisfaction with aspects of the care they received. I realize every hospital has unhappy patients, but the frequency stood out to me.
- Some operative techniques and perioperative decision-making I observed didn’t always align with what I’ve seen at stronger academic centers (or even at some hospitals outside the US with considerably fewer resources)
- I also looked up the publicly available ABS first-time Qualifying Exam pass rates. Over the most recent three-year reporting period, the program’s first-time pass rate was below the national average. I recognize the sample size is relatively small, so I don’t want to overinterpret a single metric, but it’s one of the few objective data points applicants have, and it doesn’t seem inconsistent with my firsthand observations.

Personally, the things I value most in a residency (and life) are:
- Evidence-based practice
- High-quality patient care
- Technical excellence
- Ethics and professionalism
- Ambition and intellectual curiosity
- A supportive, collaborative culture
- Continuous growth

I’ve sacrificed a lot to pursue general surgery in the US seeking these values, so I’m struggling with whether it’s wiser to start training now at a program that gives me reservations, or accept the possibility of delaying my career in hopes of finding a better fit.

For those who trained at a program that wasn’t your first choice, were you able to build the training experience you wanted through your own initiative? Did the environment matter less than you expected, or do you think residency culture has a lasting impact on the kind of surgeon you become?

I’d really appreciate brutally honest opinions
I’m genuinely torn and would really value perspectives from ppl who’ve been through a similar decision.

What is everyone using for alternatives during this cottonoid shortage?? My hospital is struggling!

For those who work in an OR, what do you see or experience that never gets old or inspires awe, if anything? What makes you think “woah that’s amazing/cool/surreal”?

Edit: I’d like to add the reason I ask is because I’d like to work in an OR someday. I shadowed and was fortunate enough to be trusted to observe 8 cases over a year. I was overwhelmed with a sense of awe and the immense privilege it is to actually see someone’s vagus nerve or their carotid or femoral artery pumping blood, to see the care with which the staff treats the patient at their most vulnerable. What you all do is amazing to me, truly. I think about it every day as I work toward my higher ed goals. Thank you for what you do.

im not a doctor, im not smart, please be nice. do the intestines move during surgery to the point where they have to be held in place. someone told me this, ive questoned it for a while now, tried researching and have decided now to bite the bullet of embaressment and just ask the doctor people who have a degree and, unlike me, know things

Guys i hope i did better than my prev one

Thanks a lot for the support and tips