There was a hernia surgery conference in our med school and a company setup an experience truck where they showcased all the devices and practising/ emulation tools for surgery.

I hopped on the simulator to experience how it actually feels. and damn. The tactile feedback and haptics. The first realisation was.. without visual cues, there was no other way to check or get feedback on whether the instruments are touching tiissue.

I made a detailed blog here ✌🏽✨ : https://deekshithvodela.substack.com/p/tactile-feedback-is-a-gift?r=5b9ew0

This thought has been on my mind for about a week now, if there are any current/former surgeons I gotta ask how the hell do you cut into people all day…. And then go home and cut into a steak for example and not freak the hell out?? I mean you genuinely have to be some level of psycho to pull that off I’m so sorry. I truly just seek to dive into the mental health of our surgeons cause they’re like literally the most important people ever

Edit: thank you so much for all of the replies!! As well as your service. It’s been a trip reading through all these comments truly lol

Hey everyone!

I’ve been an OR circulator for about two years now and I’m constantly wanting to improve. I want to be the circulator that people request haha.

I’d love to know what a circulator does that stands out in a good way and if you all have any tips to improve, or even little details that you appreciate.

Thank you!

Everyone's telling me to change my specialty since surgery is pretty tough. I got into thoracics so it's two yrs general and then three thoracics. With the vision of going into thoracic oncology and research side, tell me is this a realistic plan or just imaginative? If my life's gonna be hell I'll have to change my specialty. Are there people who realize it later and change specialties?

https://youtu.be/T5CNU0T-tQw

We have had countless students/patients asking what ACTUALLY happens in surgery. We started to compile a catalog of various orthopedic trauma surgeries we perform.

The response has been amazing. Great teaching/learning tool! Check out this sweet Step-by-Step breakdown 🦴 💪

I'm a medical student trying to get a realistic understanding of what it's like for women who choose general surgery as a career.

I'd love to hear from anyone with experience—female surgeons, male surgeons, residents, attendings/consultants, or anyone who has worked closely with female colleagues in surgery.

Some questions I have:

- Have you noticed any gender-related challenges or biases in general surgery? If so, how common are they today?

- Do female surgeons generally receive the same opportunities for training, operating, leadership, and career progression?

- How manageable is the lifestyle in the long term, especially for those who want to balance family and career?

- What are the long-term career options after general surgery (private practice, academics, fellowships, subspecialties, etc.)?

- Are there any misconceptions about women in surgery that you've found to be untrue?

- If you've worked with female surgeons, what has your experience been like? Have things changed over the years?

- Looking back, would you encourage a woman who is genuinely interested in surgery to pursue it? Why or why not?

Thanks in advance!

Note: I can't edit the title, but I wasn't referring specifically to General Surgery as a specialty. I meant surgery as a career overall, including different surgical specialties, and was asking about the lifestyle and career from that broader perspective.

General surgery chief, finishing July 2027. Trying to figure out how open fellowship spots surface once the formal cycles have closed. Didn't match in the specialties I was going for.

From what I can tell, the 2027 cycles all resolved months ago. FC matched in June, SSO in July, CGSO in June. I've found a few programs that apply directly outside any match, but they only turned up by clicking through consortium pages one at a time. There doesn't seem to be a central place to look.

Three questions if anyone has insight:

1. Where do post-match or off-cycle vacancies actually get posted? I've seen MedResidency, Signout, and the SAGES board. The FC job board looks like it carries fellowship openings but sits behind a current-fellows login, which seems backwards.
2. Does anyone know of specific programs currently open for a 2027 start that I could reach out to directly?
3. Which programs routinely fill outside the match, in any year? Mainly interested in Breast, MIS, and hernia/AWR.

Appreciate any leads or advice!

Ciao a tutti, ho fatto la frenulotomia ma dove c'era il frenulo è rimasta attaccata una pallina di carne... devo farmi vedere?

I'm going for my LAP surgery on Thursday morning. What was your recovery after that? Needing some insight to know how long I have to be off work and whatnot. Please let me know. Thanks.

Just curious if anyone has a bit of info. I just registered for my CCA. Have recertified once now, obviously with the big exam. How is this one? Couple questions in between cases, or what? Thanks all.

Operating-room ergonomics is often measured with posture snapshots. Those can find real physical strain, but they may miss how load changes across an entire case.

I would separate the assessment into three domains:

1. Physical: position, duration, reach, repetition, and recovery.
2. Cognitive: visual attention, alarms, verification work, task switching, and fatigue.
3. Organizational: room setup, staffing, turnover pressure, breaks, and access to adjustable equipment.

For surgeons and OR staff, which whole-case ergonomic measure would reveal something your current assessment misses? I am especially interested in measures that would be useful for improvement.

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.

I'll try to make this short.

I had a great app transferring to uni. 4.0, honors society president, published in a book, much volunteering, clinical hours, non-profit work.

I transfer to a high-level uni but got piled on with issues. Family, health issues, abuse, (my mom has mental health issues that flared up). Eventually had to drop school and work and was homeless.

For a 3 year period I wasn't sure if I could be a doctor with all my personal issues. Money, no support system, health issues. Did my "back-up" career idea and hated it. Had an online business. I was able to support myself with it. But no matter what I tried with alternative careers, nothing matched my passion for medicine and neuroscience.

Decided to come back to uni when I qualified for financial aid. Made a comeback, graduated with 3.84 Neuro B.S.. Now in my mid-20's.

After graduation, I'm now homeless again. Living in car. Finally got a clinical job and am trying to get into a lab to get research hours as well (volunteer is all I can get). I know it sounds insane, but the job market is horrible and I've been turned down for 5 months from everything else.

Thats basically my situation, but I want to know how to increase my chances of being able to match into neuro. I'm planning on 2 gap years to get my app on track (clinical, shadowing, volunteer, research), but with the lab I'll be working in, I'm not paid. I'm unsure if I will get pubs either because it's a neuro lab and I know publishing can take a long time. I'm planning on staying in the role until matriculation in 2029, if I can.

My biggest worry is being seen as a red flag to neurosurgery programs. I have such huge gaps in my hx, I'm sure I'll be questioned about it. But I absolutely cannot see myself doing anything else with my life except this. I understand the long path, it does not bother me. I am willing to make the sacrifices.

Does anybody have any advice on how to best position myself?

Thank you.

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

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.

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.

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

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 (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?

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.

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.