A question of Specialty

‘Right, in a few seconds you will fall into a peaceful sleep…’ Words that I heard many times in the few days that I gained work experience in anaesthetics. The question of what specialty I would like to go into is not something that I have ever considered seriously (mainly given that it is such an extremely long way off), but it is an interesting question for me as a woman with some maternal instincts.

I remember speaking to the consultant anaesthetist I was shadowing, while some poor patient was asleep on the table, about why if you’re a woman then becoming a surgeon was a particularly unattractive idea if you were wanting a family. It was the usual case of how the hours were far too antisocial and it required more commitment than she would be willing to give up for her family.

In 2013, only 9.95 per cent of consultant surgeons were women. Of course it is unlikely to be solely based on the fact that it is ‘easier’ to have a family in other specialties that women are more unlikely to become consultant surgeons. My reading suggests to me that surgery very much appears to be a man’s world and I can understand why women do not want nor have the energy to place themselves in a sexist environment.

The thing is, while I was shadowing in obstetrics and gynaecology I have never felt more excited about going into medicine than I have while undertaking this work experience.  Quite obviously this is a speciality that is likely to have highly antisocial hours, as babies do not time their births according to the working day, but it is also one that for me would feel like an incredibly rewarding job.

During my short time in obstetrics I was able to see and experience such diversity within the field. During the morning I’d be watching surgery in gynaecology and in the afternoon I’d be watching beautiful babies being born by caesarean section. One of my favourite stories that I like to tell is when an elderly lady came in to have an operation and the consultant told me about how when he had asked her if she was sexually active she had replied ‘Well, don’t tell anyone… My husband is in care, but I have a partner on the side!’

There were so many other amazing experiences that really made me feel highly enthusiastic about this field of medicine. But, and here is the but, is it something that I would be willing to do and yet sacrifice so much of my personal life?

I recently had dinner with a friend and her boyfriend who happens to be a GP and I asked him why he had chosen that path? He came back to me with a very blunt answer of ‘It’s the only way to have any bit of a life’. I have been privileged to also undertake some work experience in general practice, but it was not like how I imagined it would be. In my head general practice was that a patient comes in and has a mild complaint and the GP prescribes a drug and so on and so forth. I’m sure that this can be the case for some GPs on certain days, but my experience was quite different.

The area of the country where I spent time at the GP surgery was not particularly affluent, nor was it completely deprived, it just seemed like a normal town. The day started at 7 and finished around 8 without a single break, just patient after patient. The people who came in had problems like you wouldn’t believe and many just needed someone to talk to. Life of a GP does not sound like an easy one and I can see how it would be very easy to continue to worry about the problems of your patients long after the day is finished.

On the other hand, it is a profession which is much more family friendly. So I suppose as of yet I’m really not sure, but whatever I choose to do I want to be challenged, while maintaining that all important balance.