Being a surgeon is not for everyone. It takes 30+ years of education, lots of debt, aching shoulders, and lost sleep. It is often an emotional and spiritual roller-coaster. That said, I can't imagine doing anything else with my life.
But for those of you who can, here's a few other career ideas that get you into the operative world.
OR aide - entry level position, does everything from running specimens to pathology to helping us position anesthetized patients for surgery. Invaluable man power to keep the OR running.
Certified scrub tech - Simply put, the CST handles the many instruments on the field and provides assistance to the surgeon during the operation. But any surgeon knows a good CST is worth his or her weight in gold-- a good CST can make an even the most complex operation go smoothly. If you want a team oriented, face-paced, on-your-feet job, check out CST training programs.
Circulating RN - During each surgery, a nurse is present to assist with patients going to sleep, waking up, and also to help track down supplies for the team. These RNs aren't usually scrubbed in, but instead are present in the room to trouble-shoot and support the operative team. They also generally are tasked with some of the double-checks and safety protocols.
Preop RN - Nurses who get patients ready for surgery. A great preop RN is adept at reassuring anxious patients and their families, while efficiently completing a pre-op to-do list (IVs, EKGs, medication reconcillation, ensuring the surgeon has marked the operative side, etc).
PACU RN - Postoperative Anesthesia Care Unit nurses are often experienced RNs who come from surgical wards or ICUs. These RNs take care of patients who have just come out of surgery. For most patients, that means monitoring them as they wake up from anesthesia and move them onwards to home or to their hospital bed. Patients in the PACU have potential to decompensate - requiring intubation or return to the OR - so the RNs are responsible for noting these changes and alerting the anesthesia and surgery teams.
CRNA - Certified nurse anesthetists are RNs with graduate level training in administering anesthesia. If you have had surgery, chances are that a CRNA was the one who intubated you, stayed at the head of the bed, and extubated you. Anesthesia is jokingly known for "periods of boredom punctuated by moments of terror." CRNAs are supervised by a physician anesthesiologist, but have quite a bit of independence and responsibility. The relationship of anesthesia and surgery is a time honored one of teamwork, lively banter, and tongue-in-cheek mutual respect. If you choose a career in anesthesia, I recommend a sense of humor and broad shoulders.
Perfusionist - I had never heard of this before my clinical training. This health care professional is in charge of heart-lung bypass machines and other similar devices such as our blood auto-transfusion machines. For cardiopulmonary bypass, the surgeon sews huge canulas into the blood vessels and the blood is re-routed through the machine allowing the surgeon to operate without massive blood loss or cardioplegia. Since a perfusionist is in charge of the machine that acts as the patient's heart and lungs, their ability to anticipate and quickly troubleshoot any problems is paramount.
Physician assistant - Yes, PAs and NPs can be in the OR where they assist surgeons both with perioperative management of patients and during cases in the OR. Often PAs do defined parts of a case such as saphenous vein harvest in a CABG while the surgeon works on the sternotomy or closing the incisions. Surgeons may hire a PA (or a very experienced CST) as their assistant if they commonly do surgeries that require a second pair of trained hands (and a surgery resident is not available, as is common in the community!).
See you in the OR!
Petite Surgeon
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