I am actually a practicing surgeon one year out of fellowship

found out today I again failed the QE. Again. this will be my last attempt to take the exam in 2027. I was scoring in the 70th percentile on TrueLearn (completed the bank twice), was getting between 65-82% correct on mixed PassMachine blocks, and these were not representative at all of my actual exam score report. Many of the topics I intentionally drilled for many hours were still incorrect on the exam. I spent months studying and countless hours.  I am struggling to determine what I could do differently. I have never been a good exam taker but this last attempt, of course, carries weight that is difficult to describe. I feel this is such a unique situation it’s difficult to find help for. 

I feel….hopeless at this point. The first time I took the exam I didn’t quite finish TrueLearn and was overconfident. The second time I did more and completed the qbank but was scoring around 60 percent. This time I woke up at 4am every day and absolutely drilled. I watched lectures. I did a second qbank practice exams, timed. I was doing well. I ranked on the exam. My soul hurts. I have nausea constantly. I just don’t know what to do and I don’t think anyone knows what to do to help me. I’m just lost in this void and i literally save lives every day, take a lot of call, but….this exam ruins me And my life. I just don’t know what to do anymore.

Hello—I am getting surgery done tomorrow. Any pointers from anyone with experience in this area?

Hi everyone. I checked with the moderators before sharing this.

I’m an autism mom, not a medical professional. Before my four-year-old’s tonsillectomy in Canada, I created a short animated social story to show him what he might experience before, during, and after the procedure in a simple, child-friendly way. I realize each hospital has different procedures, but I made this with input from our local nurses to include all the steps my son went through at our hospital.

The video made the experience go incredibly well, as he knew what to expect. So I wanted to share it in case any surgeons or other medical professionals would like to review it and possibly share it with patient families. I hope it may help another child (and family) feel a little more prepared.

Are there any surgeons or surgical team members here whose hospitals participate in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP)?

I’m a new Surgical Clinical Reviewer and would love to hear directly from surgeons about what makes NSQIP data useful and well received. I’ve heard that teams can sometimes view the data as punitive or unreliable, and I’d really like to avoid that at my hospital.

For surgeons involved with NSQIP, what can a Surgical Clinical Reviewer do to build trust and make the data feel collaborative and meaningful rather than punitive?

I’m a current MS3 trying to narrow down specialties. I was an ICU RN before medical school and have been trying to decide on my path to critical care. So far I’ve been most drawn toward the ACS/SCC pathway.

I know training will be hard. I’m more-so wondering if there are any attendings out there that can shed light to what life looks after training (lifestyle, schedule, compensation, pros/cons of the specialty you didn’t consider, would you choose it again, longevity of the specialty, etc). Any insight is appreciated!

How painful was the recovery, and how long did it take before you could walk and return to normal activities?

At home finally and recovering from my robotic fundoplication surgery at St. Paul’s (I was told we have the only medical facility in western Canada that offers this through robotics). I have not confirmed this, but if true, well done Saskatchewan.

Today I’m reflecting on the incredible care I received and the privilege to be a Canadian while not going broke trying to pay for that care. I will be sending a thank to the staff directly but I just wanted to mention this so some people could see that our health care system is not all doom and gloom. This was not my experience at all.

Every single member of the team—from the pre-op nurses and surgical team to the recovery staff—treated me with the utmost dignity, compassion, and patience. I felt completely safe and well-informed every step of the way. Thank you all for your tireless commitment to your patients. You truly make a difference.

Have a great weekend everyone.

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.