This is a little tidbit of personal information and insight for anyone who may be considering a career in general surgery or for anyone who may be interested in why I love what I do. This is certainly not an all inclusive list, but just a glimpse into the highlights of my career at this point in my life.
They are loosely arranged David Letterman style, leading up to the best...
10) Collaboration: I have the opportunity to collaborate with other physicians and health care providers to improve and optimize the outcomes in patient care. This comes in many different forms. I may provide a referring physician with information that will help them care for their patient. I may obtain expert advice from others outside of my specialty area assist with care. I may confer with a colleague regarding a complex case. I serve on various hospital committees that work to provide access to current information, streamline patient care, and standardize care to follow well established standards.
9) Autonomy: I have the chance to be my own boss. Although we all have to work within the confines of certain regulation bodies, from the local to the national level, I still get to make my own choices. I get to choose what I will do, who I will offer it to, where I will do it, and when I will do it. This can be the most difficult part of my job as well, as I have to juggle clinical care, administrative tasks, and running a business (because even though I am not a businesswoman, I have to pay the rent, pay my employees, pay the government, etc).
8) Innovations: The field of medicine is one of constant change. Although some change is slow, there is constant research to explore and confirm current practices, to explore alternatives, or to discover unknowns, adding another layer to what we understand about the incredible human body. This means that I have the opportunity to never get bored with what I am doing, because there is always an alternative way, and sometimes we even find out there is a better way. Although I would like a certain level of proof prior to accepting new discoveries or adapting new techniques, I never want to be that surgeon who does that way because we have always done it that way and it works just fine!
7) Variety: No two human beings are exactly alike (yes, including identical twins). This means that even if I choose to never change (which I won't), I will still never get bored with what I do. Yes, of course anatomy follows patterns, as do diseases. But there are always varieties in presentation and response to treatments. This can also be a frustrating part of my job, as you might imagine.
6) Technology: I have to admit, we have the best tools in surgery! Many of you would be amazed at the instrumentation that we have. Some of the stuff is really technologically advanced, and the medical device companies funnel countless time and resources into making even better tools. Who can imagine a stapler which lays down multiple rows of tiny filamentous wires to form staples perfectly spaced with the option to cut in between the rows- and it is not just in a straight line, but also in a curve or perfect circle?!
5) People: I have the opportunity to meet lots of different and interesting people from all walks of life. I don't have an age limit on my practice (although I do not operate on infants and toddlers), so from a precious 4 year old who needs their appendix out to the 94 year old with a twisted colon who need emergency surgery, I meet a wide variety of people. There are people from different cultures, different careers, different religions, different lifestyle preferences, different dietary restrictions, different parts of the country (and sometimes world). Sometimes they provide me with a glimpse into a world which is unfamiliar or unknown to me. Sometimes they affect our decisions and directions in care. Frequently, they enhance my daily life (and sometimes challenge it).
4) Exceed: I have the opportunity to exceed peoples' expectations. I take great pleasure in providing quality and friendly care to the grumbling middle aged man who has a bad gallbladder he just can't ignore anymore and gets dragged to my office by his wife against his will to get help after he's been whining about pain for the last year and just can't stand anymore. I love to see that transition from a cross-armed, stiff-faced quiet man before surgery to an open, smiling man after surgery because he found out it wasn't all that bad after all, and he's feeling so much better now, he wonders why he waited so long.
3) Impact: Frequently, I have the opportunity to have a positive impact on someone's health. Whether is something little that they will probably forget my name in a year or two- like taking out their gallbladder, removing their appendix, or fixing a small hernia- or something that they will likely never forget- like removing a cancer or helping them lose a few hundred pounds with gastric bypass- I get to provide a service which frequently may be health improving, life altering, or life saving.
2) Technology Part II: With those really cool tools, I get to do really cool procedures. There is such a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment with being able to make tiny holes in the abdomen, remove, re-route, or otherwise re-arrange things to accomplish #3. I remember the first time I got to do a laparoscopic gastric bypass start to finish (years ago when I was still a resident)- it was an amazing sense of accomplishment. And not to long ago- when I completed my first single incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILS lap chole)- at the completion of the surgery when the belly button was returned to its original location, and even a few weeks later when I saw my patient in follow-up- there was no appaprent visible evidence that anything had been done! This one ranks really high on the warm fuzzy list!
1) Appreciation: Many times patients will take a minute to mutter those words that mean so much, "thank you." It may come from friends or family members. It may come in the form of a hug, a gift at the holidays, a souvenier from a recent trip, or a note in the mail. No matter what form it comes in, I always recieve great joy in knowing that my job has been done well, my efforts appreciated, my care acknowleged. This is definately the best part of my job, because it allows me to know that all I do and seek to do for an individual is well recieved, and maybe, no matter how small or how big, I have managed to make a difference in someone's life.
They are loosely arranged David Letterman style, leading up to the best...
10) Collaboration: I have the opportunity to collaborate with other physicians and health care providers to improve and optimize the outcomes in patient care. This comes in many different forms. I may provide a referring physician with information that will help them care for their patient. I may obtain expert advice from others outside of my specialty area assist with care. I may confer with a colleague regarding a complex case. I serve on various hospital committees that work to provide access to current information, streamline patient care, and standardize care to follow well established standards.
9) Autonomy: I have the chance to be my own boss. Although we all have to work within the confines of certain regulation bodies, from the local to the national level, I still get to make my own choices. I get to choose what I will do, who I will offer it to, where I will do it, and when I will do it. This can be the most difficult part of my job as well, as I have to juggle clinical care, administrative tasks, and running a business (because even though I am not a businesswoman, I have to pay the rent, pay my employees, pay the government, etc).
8) Innovations: The field of medicine is one of constant change. Although some change is slow, there is constant research to explore and confirm current practices, to explore alternatives, or to discover unknowns, adding another layer to what we understand about the incredible human body. This means that I have the opportunity to never get bored with what I am doing, because there is always an alternative way, and sometimes we even find out there is a better way. Although I would like a certain level of proof prior to accepting new discoveries or adapting new techniques, I never want to be that surgeon who does that way because we have always done it that way and it works just fine!
7) Variety: No two human beings are exactly alike (yes, including identical twins). This means that even if I choose to never change (which I won't), I will still never get bored with what I do. Yes, of course anatomy follows patterns, as do diseases. But there are always varieties in presentation and response to treatments. This can also be a frustrating part of my job, as you might imagine.
6) Technology: I have to admit, we have the best tools in surgery! Many of you would be amazed at the instrumentation that we have. Some of the stuff is really technologically advanced, and the medical device companies funnel countless time and resources into making even better tools. Who can imagine a stapler which lays down multiple rows of tiny filamentous wires to form staples perfectly spaced with the option to cut in between the rows- and it is not just in a straight line, but also in a curve or perfect circle?!
5) People: I have the opportunity to meet lots of different and interesting people from all walks of life. I don't have an age limit on my practice (although I do not operate on infants and toddlers), so from a precious 4 year old who needs their appendix out to the 94 year old with a twisted colon who need emergency surgery, I meet a wide variety of people. There are people from different cultures, different careers, different religions, different lifestyle preferences, different dietary restrictions, different parts of the country (and sometimes world). Sometimes they provide me with a glimpse into a world which is unfamiliar or unknown to me. Sometimes they affect our decisions and directions in care. Frequently, they enhance my daily life (and sometimes challenge it).
4) Exceed: I have the opportunity to exceed peoples' expectations. I take great pleasure in providing quality and friendly care to the grumbling middle aged man who has a bad gallbladder he just can't ignore anymore and gets dragged to my office by his wife against his will to get help after he's been whining about pain for the last year and just can't stand anymore. I love to see that transition from a cross-armed, stiff-faced quiet man before surgery to an open, smiling man after surgery because he found out it wasn't all that bad after all, and he's feeling so much better now, he wonders why he waited so long.
3) Impact: Frequently, I have the opportunity to have a positive impact on someone's health. Whether is something little that they will probably forget my name in a year or two- like taking out their gallbladder, removing their appendix, or fixing a small hernia- or something that they will likely never forget- like removing a cancer or helping them lose a few hundred pounds with gastric bypass- I get to provide a service which frequently may be health improving, life altering, or life saving.
2) Technology Part II: With those really cool tools, I get to do really cool procedures. There is such a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment with being able to make tiny holes in the abdomen, remove, re-route, or otherwise re-arrange things to accomplish #3. I remember the first time I got to do a laparoscopic gastric bypass start to finish (years ago when I was still a resident)- it was an amazing sense of accomplishment. And not to long ago- when I completed my first single incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILS lap chole)- at the completion of the surgery when the belly button was returned to its original location, and even a few weeks later when I saw my patient in follow-up- there was no appaprent visible evidence that anything had been done! This one ranks really high on the warm fuzzy list!
1) Appreciation: Many times patients will take a minute to mutter those words that mean so much, "thank you." It may come from friends or family members. It may come in the form of a hug, a gift at the holidays, a souvenier from a recent trip, or a note in the mail. No matter what form it comes in, I always recieve great joy in knowing that my job has been done well, my efforts appreciated, my care acknowleged. This is definately the best part of my job, because it allows me to know that all I do and seek to do for an individual is well recieved, and maybe, no matter how small or how big, I have managed to make a difference in someone's life.
Lana G. Nelson, DOI am a female general surgeon practicing in Moore/Norman, OK- in the heart of the Heartland. I have been in practice since 2005. My practice scope includes general surgery, minimally invasive surgery, surgical endoscopy, heartburn surgery and weight loss/metabolic surgery.
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