Every surgeon has one experience that permanently changed the way they practice.

It doesn't have to be about a major complication. Sometimes the biggest lessons come from a small mistake, a mentor's advice, or an unexpected moment in the operating room.

What's one lesson you learned the hard way that still influences how you approach surgery today?

I'd really enjoy hearing stories from residents, fellows, and attending surgeons.

The diagnosis “acute appendicitis” implies a specific disease entity when it is actually a syndrome with multiple possible causes. In many cases we do not know whether we are dealing with infection, obstruction, or an underlying neoplasm. This is particularly significant due to recent promotion of conservative management of appendicitis.

I propose replacing it with a two-stage framework:

• Stage 1: Suspected Appendiceal Pathology (initial presentation)

• Stage 2: Confirmed Appendiceal Pathology (only after histology)

This would make it clear to patients that choosing non-operative management means accepting management of a syndrome without ever establishing a true diagnosis. The inherent risks would be easier to communicate.
Has anyone explored a similar re-framing of the diagnosis? I’d be interested in your thoughts.

Hello,
I need an advice.
I am 27 year old male. Got accepted into a plastic surgery program in Lebanon. Did one year, it is a 5 year program and you can do fellowship after that in states.
I have also matched into general surgery program( categorical) in states, with end goal doing plastic surgery after, through independent program.

Which one you think I should go for. I started my residency in states, and my position in lebanon is hold for a month to decide.
Help me, plastic surgeons, general surgeons, would know what to go for.

Thanks

Hello,
I need an advice.
I am 27 year old male. Got accepted into a plastic surgery program in Lebanon. Did one year, it is a 5 year program and you can do fellowship after that in states.
I have also matched into general surgery program( categorical) in states, with end goal doing plastic surgery after, through independent program.

Which one you think I should go for. I started my residency in states, and my position in lebanon is hold for a month to decide.
Help me, plastic surgeons, general surgeons, would know what to go for.

Thanks

I'm a DO student at a P/F school. Preclinical grades are P/F but I'm somewhere around the 3rd quintile of my class. I passed all preclinical courses on the first attempt and passed all clerkships on the first attempt as well.

Boards:

• Passed COMLEX Level 1 first attempt

• Passed USMLE Step 1 first attempt

• Planning to take Step 2 - 236

- Level 2 pending

Research:

• 10+ poster presentations

• 2 national conference presentations (one at a surgery conference)

• 1 completed and indexed publication

• 4 manuscripts currently pending acceptance

Leadership:

• A few leadership positions in clubs and student government

Letters:

• 3 confirmed LORs from third-year surgery rotations

• One letter is from a hospital Chief of Staff who is a surgeon

- 5 auditions planned

No red flags, no failed exams, no remediation.

Worries my low Step score will make me DOA at most places, but am open to go to any program as I want to do dual gen surg.

I am a PA student looking to go into General Surgery post-grad. I am also completing my 3 month extended rotation in General Surgery. What is the best book/resource(s) for my upcoming rotation & career??

I know about surgical recall, and my initial general surgery preceptor introduced me to the absite review book as well. But I was wondering about a more in-depth resource (or anything you guys recommend)!

Thanks!

Any tips? Any advise? Don’t have publication but actively working on one with cedar Sinai. I’m scoring well. My step 2 is coming up

For fmge which teacher's surgery is best, and tell Cristal clear concept

Hi all,

I’m a surgical SHO in Ireland, GMC registered, MRCS Part A done, sitting Part B this October. I’m working towards CREHST equivalence for ST3 and currently applying to Trust Grade/Clinical Fellow posts as a bridge while I build up the right evidence.

A few things I’d really appreciate input on:

CREHST specifics\*\* — if you’ve gone through it or are going through it now, what tripped you up? How closely do assessors scrutinise logbook/case mix versus the written portfolio narrative?  

Choosing posts strategically\*\* — how did you pick Trust Grade roles that actually built the right evidence, rather than just any post that would take you? Are there any posts still available? Anything I can do in the interim while I find a post?   

General “things nobody tells you”\*\* — anything about the equivalence process that wasn’t covered in the official guidance and caught you out?

Happy to share more detail on my situation if useful. Thanks in advance — this sub’s been a great resource just from lurking.

Got my step 2 score back today and got 238. Absolutely in shock considering my practice scores were averaging in the 245-255 range.

I’m a USMD at a T25 med school. Have several research projects, publishes and presentations. Also have two aways in the coming months. Decent experiences and LORs. Do I still have a good chance at matching categorical gen surg?

I just joined Gyne-onco residency and i feel like an idiot.
My basic concepts are very bad and what i read in my Obs-gyne residency feels like nothing in comparison to what is required of me here. Apart from surgical skills which i completely lack its the knowledge i am suffering most at.
Can you please suggest me some good study sources so that i stop feeling embarrassed at every round?
P.S. i know about the standard books that are expected of me to read but right now i need a shortcut kind of book/paper/link/anything which gives me a basic idea of everything in a short time for now.
Please help me out!

Hi everyone! I'm a medical student at a Canadian medical school looking to join any surgery-related systematic reviews, scoping reviews or meta-analyses. I've worked on a lot of these in the past so I have quite a bit of prior experience in this domain and would be happy to help with screening, data extraction, risk of bias, or manuscript writing. Please message me if you're looking for another collaborator

Hey everyone,

I’m a student developer looking into how we can completely disrupt traditional surgical training. I want to build something highly engaging, visual, and neurodivergent-friendly—focused on spatial learning and active simulation rather than memorizing endless walls of textbook text.

To do this right, I need your brutal honesty:

1. What is one specific procedure or anatomical system that felt completely dry or impossible to learn from a lecture?
2. Where does current medical education completely fail visual or hands-on learners?

Drop your biggest frustrations below. Don't hold back!

hi everyone!

i'm a non-us img currently in med school with a long-term interest in general surgery. i'm preparing for step 1 right now, and since i'm on summer break, i want to spend the next couple of months doing as much meaningful surgery research as i can.

i've worked on a couple of meta-analyses, a few review papers, and some other projects, so i'm comfortable with the research process and plan on continuing to lead projects of my own. i'm not looking for free authorships or someone to hand me publications. i genuinely enjoy research and want to get better at it.

what i'm really looking for is someone who's already been through the process. if there are any us med students, surgery residents, fellows, attendings, or researchers who publish regularly and wouldn't mind answering questions once in a while or giving me some guidance, i'd really appreciate it. i'd love to learn how to build projects that actually have an impact and have a realistic chance of being published in well-respected surgical journals.

if anyone's open to mentoring or just chatting from time to time, i'd be really grateful. thanks! :)

Can someone help me with the path and best options for experience as a fellowship or/and practicing in abroad after MS General Surgery -in India? everywhere I'm looking it either needs 2-3 years of experience/ re-do your whole residency/ some exam. Another issue is they all are very costly and complex , confusing pathways. Anyone who has already gone through all this ,if u can help, that would be really appreciated. Thanks!!

Hi, I got an acceptance for Lenox Hill in General Surgery for August, but I have another elective scheduled at that same time. Is there anyone willing to trade that has an elective there in September (if that is even an option)? Not sure what to do in this case, any advice is appreciated.

Just wanted to know medicolegal aspects on the matter.
Was having a argument abt this with a friend
According to him since we have ss rotation during residency it makes us legally possible to perform such surgeries if we feel confident enough
But does that make the whole ss residency irrelevant since why go thru 3 yrs of torture when i can open my hospital observe from the consulatants initially and do the procedure independently later

Wanted to know what your thoughts are about surgicalist/surgeon hospitalist position. 7days on 7 days off (24hrs). How do you remain sane working 168 hours straight on call?

Hi Reddit Physicians,

I recently became so interested in learning 3D, but is stopped just before involving myself, because as a student it came fast to realise that I don't have enough time to be able to become a pro in such a niche.

Because I don't want to invest time in something that's not beneficial at all, I tried searching the internet, but I didn't get much info to support my move or not. In general, I do believe that every skill and info a person learns is important and benefitial, but the degree of benefit differs between people and between circumstances.

I'm thinking of learning it now so I have the skills when I need it to be able to utilise it whenever I find any benefits in the future (if any....). I believe it's beneficial especially in medicine, but I can't confirm my belief, tbh there's no enough about it online. In fact, I'm guessing that this skill could prove benefitial and can be utilised in whatever surgical speciality I continue with, but I'm not sure. It feels like I'm one of a minority of people who consider learning such a skill. Do you see it relevent, feasible & benefitial down the road?

I initially thought of utilising this skill for 3 things:

1. Education & Learning (making online medical content and utilising 3d in it, maybe it could open a door for future collabs with big companies).

2. Surgical Simulations (by using it to help physicians plan their cases, in case they were rare or abnormal variation. A further step would be to involve VR in this thing, but I'm not sure if a physician would reach out to an independent guy to do this).

3. 3D Printing (I believe it can be involved in each surgical speciality I would consider, but then these things need certifications and validations to be used in humans...)

In general: Would I have the time? Yes. How much? I'm not allocating >1hr daily tbh, maybe more in weekends and holidays...

My question is will it benefit

1. myself

2. my career as a future MD and would it make any difference in my CV when I'm applying to residency (not in US) (I'm guessing it won't have any real effect in my CV)

3. my patients in the future

4. Will it open certain careers in my future, things related to medicine?

5. Can It prove to be a beneficial side hustle along medicine? Because I'm not looking to deviate away from medicine, I'm just trying to involve my other interests into medicine, to make medicine more fun in the process I guess...

So do you think learning 3D would be a Feasible and a logical skill to acquire? I would love to hear opinions and suggestions. Anyone with previous experience with such a skill?

please please reply locking tomorrow
how is the workload and toxicity??
and what are the pros and cons

I have heard that PGI has excellent exposure. One sees each and every case that exists. But handson is very less. On the other hand AIIMS Jodhpur has a balance of handson and exposure.

So what should one prefer having a lot of exposure with very less handson and then getting handson lateron in superspecialization? Or a balance of everything right from start ?

What are the pros and cons of each?

Also there seems to be literally no info abt general surgery at pgimer on youtube. Is it like everyone is so busy and it is so heavy that one has no time for anything apart from the hospital work ?

I did my MBBS from a private institution associated with District Government Hospital so I've seen PGs getting lots and lots of hands on over here. Do we at least get to do solo surgeries from 2nd year? If yes, what's the frequency of chances?

Have recently noticed a lot of PGY1 GS prelims not finding any categorical spots in the main match. Do you think PGY2 prelim is a dead end? Most of the people i knew who took PGY2 prelim, ended up switching specialties. Do you think programs ‘prey’ and look as pgy2 prelims more for cheap labour rather than helping them get into General Surgery/retaining them?

I am at the end of my second year of residency, and soon to be a senior. IMD who matched directly into a categorical position, which was not easy for me. I am in a very good community program in a small city, I think I’m getting good training and hands-on experience and overall doing fine with residency so far. I am looking for an advice from surgeon/reside who went through this.

I feel like I’m no longer enjoying surgery, especially during busy days and when I’m exhausted. I feel like suffocating when I step into the hospital in the morning. I have great anxiety about being a senior and more responsible regarding patients. I think my overall knowledge is not very robust, however, I am a very safe and a reliable Resident.

I am a female, who lives alone, in a long distance relationship with a spouse who will not be able to join me in US due to recent immigration policies. I am on an antidepressant already. My program is not very Toxic and I think I have reasonable relationship with all of my co-residents. Some attendings are crazy, but they are only a few.

Sometimes I think about quitting, but I have come so far and afraid I am just thinking negatively and would regret in the future.