Plastic surgeons are sleaze balls, neurosurgeons have massive egos, and orthopedic surgeons
are dumb bros.
Unless you’ve gone through medical school, you probably believe these stereotypes and
have a distorted perception of the personality types of each surgical specialty.
Some stereotypes are true, but most are not.
This is the truth about each specialty.
Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
Going through medical school, I recall being surprised on multiple occasions how the stereotypes
of a certain specialties differed from reality.
I have cross referenced this list and received input from several physician colleagues to
make this list as accurate as possible, but bear in mind this is our opinion, and if your
experiences differ, let me know down in the comments.
How do you know if there is a neurosurgeon
in the room?
Easy. They’ll have already told you.
The stereotype of neurosurgeons is that they have a massive god complex, they’re hugely
egotistical, and neurosurgery is incredibly delicate and nuanced.
All three of these are mostly false.
Sure, you’re bound to find egotistical personalities in any specialty, but I wouldn’t actually place neurosurgery
higher on the list than any other surgical specialty - the level of ego seems quite comparable
between all of them.
The stereotype that is true is that neurosurgeons are some of the hardest working people in
the hospital.
They work the most challenging and demanding hours, and their lifestyle is nothing to be
envious of.
As the saying goes, neurosurgeons make the most money, but they have no time to spend it.
Neurosurgeons have some of the most hilarious and dynamic personalities of any specialty.
It makes perfect sense.
Neurosurgery patients have terrible outcomes — think about it, do healthy people ever
need brain surgery?
To deal with such tragedy on a regular basis and stay sane, healthy coping mechanisms are
a must.
Healthy defense mechanisms include altruism, sublimation, anticipation, and humor.
Some of the funniest personalities I came across in medicine were on my neurosurgery
rotation.
Surprisingly, neurosurgery is not nearly as nuanced or meticulous as most people think.
This is actually a big reason I opted for plastic surgery instead.
I go over how I decided between neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and plastic surgery on
my vlog channel.
Link to that video is in the description below.
When removing a brain tumor, there often isn’t a super clear cut demarcation between tumor
and healthy tissue.
In spine surgery, there’s a lot of elbow grease and less precision than you would think.
While certain aspects are highly meticulous, as a whole I was surprised how crude neurosurgery
could be.
Speaking of crude, most people think of orthopedic
surgery.
When you think ortho, you probably think of bros, bench presses, and no medical management
skills.
And that’s… well… mostly true.
But within orthopedic surgery, there are some much more nuanced sub-specializations, like
hand, that require more precision and elegance.
It’s not all bros either.
While the specialty is dominated by men, many of whom have an affinity for picking up heavy
things and putting them back down, I’ve come across several kickass female orthopedic
surgeons.
Just because they don’t bench as much doesn’t mean they can’t impress you with their strength.
(Leverage and torque for the win) ← write this on the screen.
In terms of medical management skills, or lack thereof, I’ve heard tales about how
orthopedic surgeons forgot basic management or even what a hemoglobin A1c is.
When people think plastic surgery, they think
## Plastic Surgery When people think plastic surgery, they think
cosmetics.
While aesthetics is a sizable portion of plastic surgery, there’s so much more to it than
that.
that](https://youtu.be/Gyqu5AER7gg).
Within plastic surgery, there’s craniofacial, where you fix things like cleft lip and cleft
tissues around the body and reconnect blood vessels or nerves with the help of microscopes.
tissues around the body and reconnect blood vessels or nerves with microscopes.
It’s the closest thing we have in medicine to science fiction.
It’s the closest thing medicine has to science fiction.
In terms of personality, most people think of plastic surgeons as slimy or money minded.
$100 from a hospitalist by putting it under the dressings, but you can’t hide $100 from
$100 from a hospitalist by putting it under the dressing, but you can’t hide $100 from
a plastic surgeon.
Sure, plastic surgery attracts some with those priorities, but many pursue plastics for reconstruction,
Plastic surgeons do tend to be more neurotic and have obsessive compulsive tendencies,
Plastic surgeons tend to be more neurotic and have obsessive compulsive tendencies,
which makes sense, since it’s such a meticulous field.
Urology is the specialty focusing on the male
## Urology Urology is the specialty focusing on the male
reproductive system.
If you like dick jokes, these are your people.
Ob-Gyn stands for Obstetrics and Gynecology.
## Ob/Gyn Ob-Gyn stands for Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Obstetrics focuses on pregnancy and delivering babies, and gynecology is to women what urology
is to men.
The stereotype I’ve heard is that Ob-Gyn isn’t real surgery or that they are a miserable
Look, cesarean sections aren’t quite surgery in the same sense that urology, plastics,
Look, cesarean sections aren’t quite surgery in the same sense that urology, plastic surgery,
neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, or any other type of surgery is…
well, surgery.
Cesarean sections are incredibly crude, closure techniques are not conducive to favorable
On multiple occasions I was concerned that I would get stuck by a flying needle or scalpel.
On multiple occasions I was concerned I would get stuck by a flying needle or scalpel.
But just because obstetrics is like that doesn’t mean gynecology isn’t real surgery.
During my time on Ob-Gyn, I was lucky to see some awesome laparoscopic cases.
And regarding the stereotype of OB/GYN docs being miserable.
I think they’re a nice group of people, they’re just sleep deprived because of a
Several decades ago, prior to the sub specialization
of various types of surgery, general surgery was actually general - it was quite broad.
But since then, general surgery has mostly focused on surgical interventions of the gastrointestinal
Since then, general surgery has mostly focused on surgical interventions of the gastrointestinal
and endocrine systems.
1) First, because general surgery is compensated less than other specialties, is the easiest
surgical specialty to get into, and deals with a lot of more nausea-inducing
surgical specialty to get into](https://medschoolinsiders.com/medical-student/top-5-most-competitive-specialties-in-medicine/), and deals with a lot of more nausea-inducing
pathologies, I’ve heard other medical students or doctors suggest that general surgery is
for people who couldn’t get into a more competitive and “better” surgical specialty.
are known as masochists, meaning they love the pain and suffering.
Now do some applicants opt for general surgery because it’s less competitive?
Do some applicants opt for general surgery because it’s less competitive?
Sure, but many also pursue general surgery because they are undecided on a surgical sub-specialty,
or because general surgery an avenue through which you train for other surgical sub-specialties
Apart from neurosurgeons, general surgeons are some of the most medically inclined,
Second, apart from neurosurgeons, general surgeons are some of the most medically inclined,
orthopedic surgery colleagues usually aren’t involved in difficult medical management.
orthopedic surgery colleagues usually aren’t involved in as much medical management.
While the average general surgeon may not have the nuance and precision in the operating
room compared to a plastic surgeon, I consider it impressive to both operate and manage challenging
medical issues.
is being a thrill seekers or being quite adventurous.
is being a thrill seeker or quite adventurous.
And that’s a wrap!
What other specialties do you want me to cover? Let me know down in the description below.
If you enjoyed this video, you may also like my content on Instagram @kevinjubbalmd
and @medschoolinsiders.
I’m thinking about doing a video on the non-surgical specialties, like cardiology,
internal medicine, pediatrics, etc.
I need to gauge interest, so let me know if you want to see it with a comment down below.
Thank you all so much for watching.
If you liked the video let me know with a thumbs up, and if you weren’t a fan I don’t
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Make sure you’re subscribed with the notification bell enabled so that you don’t miss any future uploads, and I will
see you guys in that next one.