SSCTS

Why I want to pursue a career in cardiothoracic surgery

“Why do you want to do cardiothoracic surgery?? It is a dying profession!!” said one of my friends smugly as they divulged they wanted to go into what they described as ‘the next big thing’ by going into neurosurgery. I replied that it is a hugely important and diverse speciality that has as many doors opened over recent years as have been closed.

I have always been interested in hospitals and the human body, and from an early age I knew I wanted to be a doctor. However, once I investigated the profession a little more I uncovered a whole world of specialities, some of which I had never even heard of. So I thought, medical school is definitely for me, but what do I want to do once I am there.

During my first year at medical school, I was studying for my first systems module – “Heart, lungs and blood”, essentially the theory behind cardiothoracic (CT) surgery and haematology. I fell in love with the subject immediately, and found learning about the anatomy and physiology enthralling rather than tedious. I probed a little more towards the career of CT surgery, learning about how the heart and the lungs are operated on, how the procedures have evolved over time, even down to the original experimental procedures in coronary artery bypass grafting and cardiac transplantation. I was hooked.

My clinical rotations taught me some of the practical aspects of medicine and surgery. I had exposure to theatre in the form of general and vascular surgery, and, though I found the theatre an enjoyable and educational place to be, I found that the whole experience was lacking in a certain something. When I moved to my medicine rotation in a cardio-respiratory firm, and my love of the subject came flooding back, but the enjoyment of the operating theatre wasn’t there for me in the medical setting.

I took the initiative to experience CT operations and outpatient clinics with a consultant CT surgeon. My experiences convinced me that this is the training path and career I want. It is demanding, but it offers a far greater level of reward. The work is stimulating - mentally, physically and emotionally - and I know that I will be motivated throughout my career by this. I hope that I am able to work in many fields of CT surgery, including research, and that this will somehow improve the lives of the people that I meet as I go through my working life.

I am not going to pretend that CT surgery is a complete bed of roses, for that would be an obvious lie. The patients you see are, by definition, some of the sicker people in the hospital, and the mortality rate is higher than many other specialities. However, these downsides are met with just as many, if not more, upsides, and to think of one speciality as having only positive points would be ignorant and foolish. On balance though, I feel that this occupation will allow me to go to work with a smile on my face for the rest of my working life, and about how many jobs can one say that!

David McGowan