Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum.  ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Fetal & Pediatric Surgery  (Expert Forum)
 | 
interveiw
Answered by
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Request An Appointment
Questions in this forum are answered by pediatric and fetal surgeons from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. This forum is for questions and support about issues such as abdominal and thoracic surgery, minimally invasive surgery, oncologic surgery, trauma surgery, fetal surgery and surgery to treat congenital disorders and malformations.

interveiw

by lax20, Oct 12, 2009 11:06AM
Where i live there are no pedartric surgeons. For one of my classes i have to interveiw the health care profession i want to be. thats why im here. i would love if someone would please anwnser my questions ASAP, my project is due the 15th of october.

What are the 3 pramary duties of a pedatric surgeon?

Why did u decide to become a pedatric surgeon??

what education and training did u have ot complete to get were u are today?

Could you please describe your typical day?

how much of your day is spent taking care of or working with pateints?

What do you enjoy most about being a pedatric surgeon?

What couls you recommend to a high school student who is interested in your field??

Thank you for your time. I appericate this so much.

by Thane A Blinman, MD, FAAP, Oct 14, 2009 08:20AM
Answers follow your original questions....

What are the 3 pramary duties of a pedatric surgeon?
-->Pediatric surgeons care for all general surgical (generally no brains, long-bones, or heart) needs for patients from before birth, until around 18 years of age.  This includes doing the operations, caring for children in the ICU, and usually, trauma.

Why did u decide to become a pedatric surgeon??
-->I found the surgical work to be very Zen:  precise, deliberate, measured....

what education and training did u have ot complete to get were u are today?
--After high school, it was:  5 years of college (double major), 4 years of medical school, 7 years of residency training, and 2 more years of pediatric surgery fellowship training.

Could you please describe your typical day?
--See patients in the morning before cases; operate (cases start a 7:30; lots of minimally-invasive procedures); phone calls, paperwork, consults, troubleshooting, teaching, research all crammed in wherever they fit; other days may be in the clinic, evaluating new patients

how much of your day is spent taking care of or working with pateints?
--Some days, it is the whole day (and night! and the next day too! ); other days I write, or study.

What do you enjoy most about being a pedatric surgeon?
-->I like to see the babies have dramatic positive results from a well-done operation.

What couls you recommend to a high school student who is interested in your field??
-->Study hard.  Pediatric surgery is a vey competitive field, within an already competitive field (general surgery).  Meanwhile, make sure that, as you build your academic record, never do anything for show.  That is, never engage in "resume building." Instead, do things that are real:  take the weird summer job you really want; build robots because you like that; go ahead and join that band; pick the major in college for a subject that you love, not one that is good for pre-med.  People who merely "play the game" and follow some kind of formula are unhappy, and do not make very good doctors (if they even get in).
Thank you for your time. I appericate this so much.

--Good luck!!
Member Comments (2)

by lax20, Oct 14, 2009 08:49PM
To: Thane A Blinman, MD, FAAP
Thank you so much for your time and effort. This really helped me out. :)
Continue discussion
RSS Expert Activity
Sad cases of Animal Cruelty
Dec 18 by Thomas Dock, Vet. Technician
Behavior Medications for our Pets -... 
Dec 17 by Jim Humphries, B.S., D.V.M.
EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH TO NEUTER S...
Dec 15 by Arnold L Goldman, D.V.M.