School Student
What's surgery like?
Miss Mehtab Ahmad
Specialist Trainee - General Surgery
I first considered a career in surgery during my initial clinical placement in my third year of Medical School. I was attached to an inspirational Consultant’s Firm who made not only theatre sessions an active, engaging environment in which to learn, but also instilled in all of us the concept that every patient has a story to tell and it is our job to listen. The Surgeon’s role was to sift through and determine whether an operation would help... 'Anyone can operate. It’s knowing when to that marks you out as being a good surgeon to your patients'.
My training has from the start been of the new style: I went through my Foundation Years, applied through and survived MTAS and am now in my ST3 year. I am on the General Surgery themed rotation in the West Midlands Deanery and still at a point where every day the breadth and diversity of surgery excites and interests me. There’s not been a day where I haven’t learnt something new, seen something new and felt challenged by my work. Sure, this could be said of any specialty within Medicine, but in Surgery there’s an extra dimension: yes, we do ward rounds, deal with medical problems and do clinics…but then there’s theatre! It’s here that the enjoyment for me comes, it encompasses a lot of what being a doctor in the broader sense entails: communication, team working and task-focussed work where the collective aim is to make someone better. And it doesn’t even have to be the big complex stuff: the first time I lanced an abscess as a House Officer I was aware that you can make a tremendous difference and provide immense relief to patients through doing something well.
If I’m being honest, it never occurred to me not to pursue a career in surgery. I have had the benefit of fantastic Educational Supervisors who have been instrumental in me making the choices I have made and supported me in my decisions. Along the way a few people have ventured to say some of the adages that exist about the career pathway: ‘it’s a difficult career involving personal sacrifice and what about having a family etc’ to which I have maintained that if you want to do something, you should go for it. No successful career is easy. Personal sacrifice is subjective and not limited to surgery. And as for having a family: people do it. If you want to, you can make it work.
